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Stom  f  ^e  £i6rari?  of 

tn  ^emorg  of 
3uboje  ^amuef  (gliffer  (grecftinribge 

gjreeenteb  6|? 

^dmuef  (gtiffer  (grecftinnbge  feon^ 

fo  f 3e  feifirari?  of 

nbrinceton  C^eofo^caf  ^eminarjj 


4t 


DIVINE  LEGATION 

MOSES 

DEMONSTRATED, 

IN    NINE    BOOKS. 
The  Fourth  Edition,  Corre6bed  and  Enlarged. 


William,   Lord  Biftiop   of  Gloucester. 


AnOKAAYYOM   TOYS  O<I)0AAMOY2  MOT 

KAI 

KATANOHin  TA  SAYMASIA  EK  TOT  NOMOT  SOY. 

PsAL. 


Vol.    I. 


LONDON, 

Printed  for  A.  Millar,  and  J.  and  R.  Tonson> 
in  the  Strand,    MDCCLXV. 


TO 
THE    RIGHT    HONOURABLE 

PHILIP, 

EARL  of  HARDWICKE, 
LORD  HIGH  CHANCELLOR 

O  F 

GREAT  BRITAIN. 


My  Lord, 

YOUR  Lordlliip   having  fo   far 
approved  of  the  good  intentions 
of  my  endeavours  for  above  twenty 
A  2  years 


iv        DEDICATION. 

years  paft,  in  the  caufe  of  Religion, 
as  to  conier  upon  me  a  diftinguifhing 
mark  of  your  favour,  I  am  proud  to  lay 
hold  of  the  firft  public  opportunity  which 
I  have  had,  of  defiring  leave  to  make 
my  moft  grateful  acknowledgments. 

I  take  the  liberty  to  infcribe  to  your 
Lordfhip  a  new  Edition  (to  which  I 
have  put  the  lafl:  hand)  of  a  Work  • 
tending  to  {hew  and  illuftrate,  by  a 
new  Argument,  the  Divi72e  Legation  of 
Mofes ;  which  in  our  own,  as  well  as 
former  times,  the  moft  celebrated 
Champions  of  Infidelity  have  cunning- 
ly, for  their  own  purpofes,  laboured 
with  all  their  might,  to  overthrow. 

If  I  have  fucceeded,  or  as  far  as  I 
have  fucceeded,  or  may  hereafter  fuc- 
ceed,  in  the  further  profecution  of  this 
attempt,  I  fhall  ftrengthen  one  foun- 
dation of  Chriftianity. 

As  an  Author,  I  am  not  fcillicitous 
for  ^he  reputation  of  any  literary  per- 
formance. 


DEDICATION.        v 

formance.  A  work  given  to  the  World, 
every  reader  has  a  right  to  cenfure. 
If  it  has  merit,  it  will  go  down  to 
pofterity :  If  it  has  none,  the  fooner 
it  dies  and  is  forgot  the  better. 

But  I  am  extremely  anxious  that 
no  good  man  fhould  miftake  the  view 
with  which  I  write ;  and  therefore 
cannot  help  feeling,  perhaps  too  fen- 
fibly,   when  it  is  mifreprefented. 

So  far  as  any  cenfure  can  ihew  that 
my  poor  labours  are  not  calculated  to 
promote  Letters  or  Learnings  to  ad- 
vance Truthy  or,  above  all,  to  ferve 
the  Caufe  of  Religion^  which  I  profefs 
as  a  Chriftian  and  a  Member  of  the 
Church  of  Riigland^  I  own,  I  have 
mified  my  end;  and  wull  be  the  firft 
to  join  with  the  cenfure  w^hich  con- 
demns them.  , 

In   the  mean  time,   the  firR  Book 

of  this  Work,    fuch  as   it  is,   is  here 

humbly  commended  to  your  Lordfliip's 

I  pro- 


vi        DEDICATION. 

protedion.  For  to  whom  does  it  fo 
properly  belong  to  patronize  an  Ar- 
gument {hewing  the  Utility  of  Re- 
lip-ion  to  Society,  as  to  that  great  Ma- 
giftrate,  Legiflator,  and  Statefman,  who 
is  beft  able  to  recommend  and  apply 
the  Subjed,  by  his  being  convinced 
of  the  Truth  of  Religion;  and  by  his 
giving  the  moft  exemplary  proof  of  his 
belief,  in  a  fteddy  regard  to  it's  dictates 
in  his  life  and  adions. 

It  is  this  which  makes  me  prefume 
on  your  Lordfhip's  protection,  not  any 
thing  extraordinary  in  the  Work  itfelf. 
It  is  enough  for  your  Lordfhip  to  find 
in  thofe  you  favour,  a  real  zeal  for 
the  interefts  of  Virtue  and  Religion. 
The  efFedual  fervice  of  thofe  interefts 
depends  on  fo  many  accidents,  re- 
fpeding  both  the  ability  of  the  Writer 
and  the  difpofition  of  the  Reader,  that 
your  Lordfhip's  humanity  and  candour, 
inlarged,    and  not  (as  it  often  happens) 

dimi- 


DEDICATION.        vil 

diminifhed,  by  your  great  knowledge 
of  Mankind,  will  always  difpofe  You 
to  eftimate  merit  by  a  better  rule  than 
the  Succefs. 


I  am, 

My  Lord, 

With  the  utniojl  Gratitude^ 

Your  Lordjhip's  moji  ohiigedy 

and  devoted  Serva7tty 


Lendon^  Nov.  5. 
1754- 


W.  Wa  R  B  URTON. 


(i) 


T  O    T  H  E 

FREE-THINKERS. 

Gentle  MENi 

AS  the  following  difcourfe  was  written 
for  your  uie,  you  have  the  beft  right 
to  this  addrefs.  1  could  never  approve 
the  cuflom  of  dedicating  books  to  men,  whofe 
profeffions  made  them  ftrangers  to  the  fub- 
jecft.  A  difcourfe  on  the  Ten  Predicaments, 
to  a  leader  of  armies,  or  a  fyftem  of  cafuiflry 
to  a  minifter  of  ftate,  always  appeared  to  me 
a  high  abfurdity. 

Another  advantage  I  have  in  this  addrefs,  is 
that  I  fi:iall  not  lie  under  any  temptations  of 
flattery ;  which,  at  this  time  of  day,  when 
every  topic  of  adulation  has  been  exhaufted, 
will  be  of  equal  eafe  and  advantage  to  us  both. 

Not  but  I  mufl  own  you  have  been  ma- 
naged, even  by  fome  of  our  Order,  with  very 
fmgular  complaifance.  Whether  it  was  that 
they  affedted  the  fame  of  moderation,  or  the 
higher  ambition  of  your  good  word,  I  know 
not ;  but  I,  who  neither  love  your  caufe,  nor 
fear  the  abilities  that  fupport  it,  while  I  pre- 

,VoL,  I,  A  fefvs 


li  DEDICATION. 

ferve  for  you  that  juft ice  and  charity  which  my' 
profeffion  teaches  to  be  due  to  all,  can  never 
be  brought  to  think  otherwife  of  you,  than  as 
the  defpifers  of  the  Mafter  whom  I  ferve,  ana 
and  as  the  implacable  enemies  of  that  Order, 
to  which  I  have  the  honour  to  belong.  And 
as  fuch,  I  fliould  be  tempted  to  glory  in  your 
cenfures  j  but  would  certainly  refufe  your 
commendations. 

Indeed,  was  it  my  defign,  in  the  manner 
of  modern  dedicators,  to  look  out  for  power- 
ful protedlors,  I  do  not  know  where  I  could 
fooner  find  them,  than  amongfh  the  gentle- 
men of  your  denomination :  for  nothing,  I 
believe,  ftrikes  the  ferious  obferver  with  more 
furprize,  in  this  age  of  novelties,  than  that 
ftrange  propenfity  to  infidelity,  fo  vifible  in 
men  of  almoft  every  condition;  amongft 
whom  the  advocates  of  Deifm  are  received 
with  all  the  applaufes  due  to  the  inventors  of 
the  arts  of  life,  or  the  deliverers  of  opprefTed 
and  injured  nations.  The  glorious  liberty  of 
the  Gofpel  is  forgotten  amidfl  our  clamours 
againfi:  church-tyranny;  and  we  flight  the 
fruits  of  the  refiored  'Tree  of  Knowledge^  for 
the  fake  of  gathering  a  few  barren  leaves  from: 
mifgrafted  Free-thinking. 

But  do  not  miftake  me  ;  here  are  no  infi- 
nuations  intended  againfi:  liberty  :  for,  furely, 
whatever  be  the  caufe  of  this  folly,  it  would 

^      b& 


Dedication.       in 

be  unjuft  to  afcribe  it  to  the  freedom  of  the 
prefs,  which  wife  men  will  fever  hold  one  of 
the  moil:  precious  branches  of  national  liberty. 
What  though  it  midwifes,  as  it  were,  thefe 
brain-fick  births  5  yet,  at  the  fame  time  that 
it  facilitates  the  delivery,  it  lends  a  forming 
hand  to  the  miiliapen  iffae  :  for,  as  in  natu- 
ral bodies,  become  diftorted  by  fuffering  vio- 
lence in  the  conception,  or  by  too  long  im- 
prifonment  in  the  womb,  a  free  unreftrained 
expofition  of  the  parts  may,  in  time,  reflore 
them  to  their  natural  rectitude  ;  fo  crude  and 
rickety  notions,  crampt  by  reftraint,  when 
permitted  to  be  drawn  out  and  examined, 
may,  by  the  redudion  of  the  obliquities,  and 
the  correction  of  their  virulency,  at  length 
acquire  ftrength  and  proportion. 

Nor  lefs  friendly  is  this  hberty  to  the  gene- 
rous advocate  of  religion :  for  how  could  fucli 
a  onCj  when  in  earneft  convinced  of  the 
flrength  of  evidence  in  his  caufe,  delire  an 
adverfary  whom  the  laws  had  before  difarm- 
cd  ;  or  value  a  vidtory,  where  the  magiflrate 
mufc  triumph  with  him  ?  Even  I,  the  mean- 
eft  in  this  controverfy,  iliould  have  been 
afliamed  of  projeding  the  defence  of  the  great 
jewifli  lawgiver,  did  not  I  knov/,  that  his  af- 
failants  and  defenders  fkirmiflied  all  under  one 
equal  hv^  of  liberty.  And  if  my  difTenting 
in  the  coiirfe  of  this  defence,  from  fome  com*- 

A  z  mon 


W  DEDICATION. 

mon  opinions  need  an  apology,  Idefire  it  may 
be  thought,  that  I  ventured  into  this  train 
with  greater  confidence,  to  fliew,  by  my  not 
intrenching  myfelf  in  authorized  fpeculations, 
that  I  put  myfelf  upon  the  fame  footing  with 
you,  and  v/ould  claim  no  privilege  that  was 
not  reciprocal. 

This  liberty  then  may  you  long  polTefs  j 
may  you  know  how  to  ufe  j  may  you  grate- 
fully acknowledge  !  I  fay  this,  becaufe  one 
cannot,  without  indignation,  obferve,  that 
amidft  the  full  pofleilion  of  it,  you  ftill  con- 
tinue, with  the  meaneft  afFedation,  to  fill 
your  prefaces  with  repeated  clamours  againft: 
the  difficulties  and  difcouragements  attend- 
ing the  exercife  of  Free-thinking :  and,  in  a 
peculiar  flrain  of  modefty  and  reafoning,  make 
ufe  of  this  very  liberty  to  perfuade  the  world 
you  flill  want  it.  In  extolling  liberty,  we  can 
join  with  you ;  in  the  vanity  of  pretending  to 
have  contributed  mofl  to  its  eftablifliment,  we 
can  bear  with  you  3  but  in  the  low  cunning 
of  pretending  ftill  to  lie  under  reftraints,  we 
can  neither  join  nor  bear  with  you.  There 
was  indeed  a  time,  and  that  within  our  own 
memories,  when  fuch  complaints  were  fea- 
fonable  and  meritorious  -,  but,  happy  for  you, 
gentlemen,  you  have  out-lived  it :  all  the  reft 
is  merely  fir  Martin  =  j  it  is  continuing  to  fumble 

*  In  a  comedy  of  J9ry^(?«'f. 

at 


DEDICATION.  v 

at  the  lute,   though  the  mufic  has  been  long 
over.     For  it  is  not  a  thing  to  be  difguifed, 
that  all  we  hear  from  you,  on  this  head,  is 
but  an  aukward,   though  envenomed  imita- 
tion of  an  original  work  of  one,   whoever  he 
was,  who  appears  to  have  been  amongft  the 
greatefl,  and  moft  fuccefsful  of  your  adverfa- 
ries.      It  was  publifhed  at  an  important  jun- 
cture, under  the  title  of  I'he  difficulties  and 
difcourage7ne72ts  which  attend  the  Jludy  of  the 
Scripture.     But  with  all  the  merit  of  this 
beautiful  fatire,  it  has  been  its  fortune  not  on- 
ly to  be  abufed  by  your  bad  imitations,  but 
to  be  cenfured  by  thofe  in  whofe  caufe  it  was 
compofed  ;  I  mean  the  real  friends  of  religion 
and  liberty.     An  author  of  note  thus  expref- 
fes  himfelf :  ^  "  Nor  was  this  the  worfl :  men 
*'  were  not  only  difcouraged  from  ftudying 
*'  and  revering  the  Scriptures  by  —  but  alfo 
**  by  being  told  that  this  fludy  was  dilficult, 
*'  fruitlefs,  and  dangerous  ;   and  a  public,  an 
*'  elaborate,  an  earnefl  difiuaiive   from  this 
*'  fludy,  for  the  very  reafons  now  mention- 
ed, enforced  by  two  well  known  examples, 
*'  and  believed  from  a  perfon  of  great  emin^ 
*^  ence  in  the  church,  hath  already  palled  of-r 
*'  ten  enough  through  the   prefs,  to  reach 
**  the  hands  of  all  the  clerc^vmen  in  Great-. 
*'  Britain  and  Ireland  :  God  in  his  great  mer- 
^  Mcvglaihn  gxam'med  with  candour^  In  the  preface. 

A  3  «  cy 


« 


^1         DEDICATION, 

"  cy  forgive  the  author."  Serioufly  it  is  a 
fad  cafe  !  that  one  well-meaning  man  fhould 
fo  widely  n^illake  the  end  and  defign  of  an- 
other, as  not  to  fee  by  the  turn  and  caft  of  the 
Difficulties  and  difcouragements^  that  it  is  a 
thorough  irony,  addreffed  to  fome  hot  bigots 
then  in  power,  to  (hew  them  what  difmal  ef- 
fects that  inquifitional  fpirit,  with  which  they 
were  poffell'ed,  would  have  on  literature  in 
general,  at  a  time  when  public  liberty  looked 
with  a  very  fickly  face !  Not,  I  fay,  to  fee 
this,  but  to  believe,  on  the  contrary,  that  it 
was  really  intended  as  a  public^,  an  elahoratey 
£ii2  earneji  dijfuafi've from  thefiudy  of  the  Scri- 
ftures  !  But  I  have  fo  charitable  an  opinion 
of  the  great  author,  for  a  great  author  with- 
out doubt  he  was,  as  to  believe  that  had  he 
forefeen  that  the  liberty,  which  animates  this 
line  turned  piece  of  raillery,  would  have  giv- 
en fcandal  to  any  good  man,  he  would,  for 
the  confoiatlon  of  fuch,  have  made  any  rea- 
fonable  abatement  in  the  vigour  of  his  wit  and 
argument. 

But  you,  Gentlemen,  have  a  different  quarrel 
with  him :  you  pretend  he  hath  fince  written 
on  the  other  fide  the  queftion.  Now  though 
the  word  of  his  accufers  is  not  apt  to  go  very 
far  with  me,  yet,  I  muft  own,  I  could  be  eafily 
enough  brought  to  believe,  that  an  author  of 
fuch  talents  of  literature,  love  of  truth^  and  of 

his 


DEDICATION. 


vn 


his  country,  as  this  appears  to  have  been, 
would  as  freely  expofe  the  extreme  of  folly  at 
one  end,  as  at  the  other  j  without  regarding 
what  party  he  opf>ofed  or  favoured  by  it. 
And  it  is  well  known,  that  at  the  time  this  is 
pretended  to  have  been  done,  another  interefl 
being  become  uppermoft,  ftrange  principles 
of  licence,  which  tended  to  fubvert  all  order, 
and  deflroy  the  very  eilence  of  a  church,  ran 
now  in  the  popular  flream.  What  then 
fliould  hinder  a  writer,  who  was  of  no  par- 
ty but  that  of  truth,  to  oppofe  this  extrava- 
gance, as  he  had  done  its  oppofite  ?  And  if  he 
pleafed  neither  bigot  nor  libertine  by  his  uni- 
formity of  condud,  it  was  becaufe  they  were 
fuch. 

How  rare,  how  excellent,  how  public  a 
bleiling  is  fuch  a  virtue  !  which,  unawed  by 
that  fafal  enemy  cf  fenfi,  as  the  poet  calls  it, 
the  danger  of  offending^  dares  equally  oppofe 
itfelf  to  the  different  follies  of  Party-in-ex- 
tremes. 

But  to  return  to  cur  fubjed: :  The  poor 
thread-bare  cant  of  want  of  liberty^  I  fliould 
hope  then  you  would  be,  at  length,  perfuad* 
ed  to  lay  afide  ;  but  that  I  know  fuch  infinu- 
ations  are  amongft  your  arts  of  controverfy  ; 
and  that  fomething  is  to  be  allowed  to  a  weak 
caufe,  and  to  a  reputation  that  requires  ma- 
paging,     V/c  know  what  to  underfcand  by  it, 

A  4  when 


viii        DEDICATION. 

when  after  a  fuccefslefs  infult  on  religion,  the 
reader  is  intreated  to  believe  that  you  have  a 
flrong  referve,  which  only  waits  the  fetting 
open  the  larger  door  of  liberty,  yet  fhut  againfl 
you. 

Thus,  at  the  very  entrance  of  your  works 
you  teach  us  what  we  are  to  expeft.  But  I 
muft  beg  your  patience,  now  I  am  got  thus 
far,  to  lay  before  you  your  principal  abufes 
of  that  liberty  indulged  to  you  for  better  pur- 
pofes ;  or,  to  give  them  the  fofteft  name  I 
can,  in  an  addrcfs  of  this  nature,  your  arts 

OF    CONTROVERSY. 

By  this  I  fliall  at  once  pradlice  the  charity 
i  have  profelTed,  and  juftify  the  opinion  I 
have  pafTed  upon  you. 

Your  v/riters,  I  fpeak  it,  Gentlemen,  to 
your  honour,  offer  your  confiderations  to  the 
world,  either  under  the  name  of  petitioners 
for  oppreiTed  and  injured  truth ;  or  of  teachers 
to  ignorant  and  erring  man.  Thefe  fure  are 
characters  that,  if  any,  require  ferioufnefs  and 
gravity  to  fupport  them.  But  fo  great  a 
Aranger  to  decorum  is  man,  on  his  entry  on 
the  ftage  of  life,  that,  for  the  moft  part,  like 
Bays's  ador  in  the  Rehearfal,  who  was  at  a 
lofs  to  know  w^hether  he  was  to  be  ferious  or 
merry,  melancholy  or  in  love,  he  runs  gid- 
dily on,  in  a  mixt  and  jumbled  character  3  but 
has,  mofl  an  end,  a  flrong  inclination  to  paake 

n  farce 


D  E  D  I  C  A  T  I  O  N.  jx 

a  farce  of  it,  and  mingle  buffoonry  with  the 
moft  ferious  fcenes.  Hence,  even  in  religious 
controverfy,  while  the  great  caufe  of  eternal 
happinefs  is  trying  ;  and  men  and  angels,  as 
it  were,  attending  the  iflue  of  the  conflidt, 
we  can  find  room  for  a  merry  ftory  j  and  re- 
ceive the  advocate  of  infidelity  with  much 
welcome  ^j  if  he  comes  with  but  a  difpofition 
to  make  us  laugh  :  though  he  brings  the  tid- 
ings of  death,  and  fcatters  round  him  the  poi- 
fon  of  our  hopes,  yet,  like  the  dying  afiafi!in  % 
we  can  laugh  along  with  the  mob,  though 
our  own  defpair  and  agonies  conclude  the  en- 
tertainment. 

This  quality  making  a  writer  fo  well  re- 
ceived, yours  have  been  tempted  to  difpenfe 
with  the  folemnity  of  their  character ;  as 
thinking  it  of  much  importance  to  get  the 
laugh  on  their  fide.  Hence  ridicule  is  become 
their  favourite  figure  of  fpeech ;  and  they  have 
compofed  diftincl  treatifes  to  jufiify  its  ufe, 
and   evince   its   utility.     But  to  be  fair  with 

^  Hence  Anthony  Urceus,  furnamed  Codrus,  as  vain 
and  impious  as  any  Free-thinker  alive,  being  aflced  the 
reafon  (as  we  are  told  by  Blanchini,  the  writer  of  his 
life)  why  he  mixed  fo  much  buffoonry  in  his  works,  re- 
plied, "  That  nature  had  formed  mankind  in  fuch  a  man- 
«  ner,  as  to  be  moft  taken  with  buffoons  and  frory- 
«<  tellers." 

«  Baitiiazar  Gerard,  who  murthered  the  Prince  of 
grange,     See  his  jRory. 

yoy, 


C     DEDICATION. 

you,  it  muft  be  owned,  that  this  flrange  dif- 
pofition  towards  unfeafonable  mirth,  drives 
all  parties  upon  being  witty  where  they  can, 
as  being  confcious  of  its  powerful  operation  in 
controverfy  :  ridicule  having  from  the  hands 
of  a  ikilful  difputant,  the  fame  effedt  in  bar» 
barous  minds,  with  the  new  invented  darts  of 
Marius  ^  that,  though  fo  weak  as  to  break 
in  the  throw,  and  pierce  no  farther  than  the 
outfide,  yet  flicking  there,  they  more  en- 
tangle and  incommode  the  combatant,  than 
thofe  arms,  which  fly  flronger,  and  ftrike 
deeper.  However,  an  abufe  it  is,  and  the 
mofl  pernicious  too,  of  the  liberty  of  the 
prefs.  For  what  greater  affront  to  the  feve- 
rity  of  reafon,  the  fublimity  of  truth,  and  the 
fandity  of  religion,  than  to  fubjedt  them  to 
the  impure  touch  of  every  empty  fcurrilous 
buffoon?  the  politenefs  of  Athens,  which 
you  pretend  fo  much  to  admire,  fhould  be 
here  a  leffon  to  you  ;  which  committed  all 
queftions  of  this  nature,  when  they  were  to 
be  examined,  to  their  graveff  and  fevereft 
court,  the  Areopagus :  whofe  judges  would 
not  fuffer  the  advocates  for  either  party  to  ap- 
ply to  the  paffions,  fo  much  as  by  the  com- 
mon rules  of  the  chafteffc  rhetoric  ^,     But  ^^ 

^  See  Plut.  Vh.  Mar. 

!  Exemplo  legis  Atticse,  Martiique  judlcil  caufe  Pa- 

prepofterous 


DEDICATION.  xi 

prepofterous  love  of  mirth  hath  turned  you 
all  into  wits,  quite  down  from  the  fanguine 
v/riter  of  I'he  independent  whig,  to  the  atrabi- 
laire  blafphemer  of  the  miracles  ^  Though 
it  would  be  but  charity  to  tell  you  a  plain 
truth,  which  Tully  told  your  illujiricia  pre^ 
decejfcrs  long  ago,  when  infeded  with  the 
fame  dirt  em  per :  "  Ita  falem  iftum,  quo  ca- 
**  ret  veftra  natio,  in  irridendis  nobis  nolitote 
*'  confumere.  Et  mehercule,  fi  me  audiatis, 
^'  ne  experiamini  quidem  :  non  decet  ;  non 
**  datum  eft  ;  non  poteftis.'*  However,  if 
you  will  needs  be  witty,  take  once  more  your 
example  frrom  the  fine  author  of  I'he  difficul- 
ties', and  learn  from  him  the  difference  be- 
tween the  Attic  irony  and  elegance  of  wit, 
and  your  intemperate  fcurrility  and  illiberal 
banter. 

What  a  noife,  you  will  fay,  for* a  little 
harmlefs  mirth.  Ah,  Gentlemen!  if  that 
were  all,  you  had  my  leave  to  laugh  on  :  I 
Vvould  fay  with  the  old  comic, 
Utinam  male  qui  mihi  volunt,  fic  rideant. 
But  low  and  mean  as  your  buftoonry  is,  it 
is  yet  to  the  level  of  the  people:  and  by  it  you 
lead  capti^oe,  filly  fellows,  laden  with  fin,  led 
(iway  with  divers  lujis,  who  are  as  little  foli- 

tronis  denuntiat  Praeeo  neque  principia  dicere,  nequc  mi- 
ferationem  comniovere.     ApiiU 
\  V/oolflon» 

^itous, 


xii  t>  E  D  I  C  A  T  r  O  R 

citous,  as  capable,  of  the  point  of  argument, 
fo  they  can  but  catch  the  point  of  wit.  Amongfl 
fuch,  and  to  fuch,  you  write :  and  it  is  in- 
conceivable what  havoc  falfe  wit  makes  in  a 
foolifh  head  :  "  The  rabble  of  mankind  (as 
"  an  excellent  writer  well  obferves)  being 
"  very  apt  to  think,  that  every  thing  which 
*'  is  laughed  at,  with  any  mixture  of  wit,  is 
"  ridiculous  in  itfelf  ^Z*  Few  refledl  on  what 
a  great  wit  ^  has  fo  ingenuoufly  owned,  ^hat 
wit  is  generally  falfe  reafoning. 

But  one,  in  whom  your  party  moft  glories, 
hath  written  in  defence  of  this  abufive  way 
of  wit  and  raillery,  on  ferious  fubjeds.  Let 
us  hear  him  then ' :  *'  Nothing  is  ridiculous, 
*'  except  what  is  deformed  5  nor  is  any  thing 
^'  proof  againft  raillery,  except  what  is  hand- 
"  fome  and  juft:  and  therefore  it  is  the 
*"'  hardeft  thing  in  the  world  to  deny  fair  ho- 
*^  nefty  the  ufe  of  this  weapon ;  which  can 
"  never  bear  an  edge  againft  herfelf.  One 
='  may  defy  the  world  to  turn  bravery  or  ge- 
"  nerofity  into  ridicule:  a  man  muft  be 
foundly  ridiculous,  who,  with  all  the  wit 
imaginable,  would  go  about  to  ridicule 
**  wifdom,  or  laugh  at  honefty  or  good  man- 

*  Mr.  Addifon's  JVorhy  vol.  iii.  p.  293.  QuartOi^ 

*  Mr.  Wycherley  to  Mr.  Pope,  Letter  xvi. 

5  Char  act  eriflic;^  vol.  i.     £Jfay  on  the  freedom  of  wit 
md  humour. 


€C 


DEDICATION.        xlli 

*'  ners.'*     Yes,  ridiculous,  indeed,  to  laugh 
at  bravery,  generolity,  wifdom,  honefly,  or 
good  manners,  as  fuch  :  and  I  hardly  think, 
gentlemen,  as  licentious  as  feme  of  you  are, 
you  will  be  ever  brought  to  accept  of  this  de- 
fiance.    And  vi^hy  need  you,  when  it  is  but 
fhewing  them,  with  overcharged  and  diflort- 
ed  features,  to  laugh  at  leifure.    Call  them  but 
temerity,  prodigality,  gravity,  fimpiicity,  fop* 
pery,  and,  as  you  have  often  experienced,  the 
bufinefs  is  done.    And  what  fecurity  will  the 
writer  give  us,  that  they  fliall  not  be  fo  call- 
ed ?  I  am  perfuaded,  if  you  are  never  to  be 
thought  rtdiciiloiis  till  you  become  fo,  in  the 
way  this  gentleman  marks  out,  you  may  go 
fafely  on  in  the  freedom  of  wit  a?id  humour , 
till  there  be  never  a  virtue  left,  to  laugh  out 
of  countenance. 

But  he  will  fay,  he  means  fuch  clear  vir- 
tue as  hath  no  equivocal  mark  about  her, 
which  a  prevaricator  can  lay  hold  on.  Ad- 
mit this :  the  man  of  wit  will  then  try  to 
make  her  ridiculous  by  her  equipage,  if  he- 
cannot  make  her  fo  in  her  perfon. 

However,  will  he  fay,  it  fliews  at  leafl, 
that  nothing  can  be  done  againfl  her,  till  flie 
be  difguifed.  A  mighty  confolation  this  to 
expiring  virtue,  that  fhe  cannot  be  deftroyed 
till  you  have  put  her  on  a  fool's  coat.  As  if 
it  was  as  hard  to  get  that  o?ij  as  Hercules's 


xltr        DEDICATION. 

off;  indeed,  in  this  the  comparlfon  will  hol^ 
better,  that  when  once  on,  it  flicks  as  clofe  as 
that  envenomed  one  of  old,  and  often  lafts  her 
to  her  funeral. 

But  if  this  noble  writer  means  that  truth 
cannot  be  obfcured,  however  difguifed  5  nor 
confequently,  made  ridiculous,  hov/ever  re- 
prefented  j  the  two  celebrated  inftances,  which 
follow,  feem  to  fliew  he  was  miftaken.  Where j 
in  the  firft,  it  is  feen,  that  nothing  can  be 
flronger  than  the  ridicule,  nor,  at  the  fame 
time  more  open  and  tranfparent  than  the  dif> 
guife  5  in  the  latter,  nothing  more  obfcured 
than  the  beauty  of  the  truth  ridiculed,  nor 
more  out  of  fight  than  the  fallacy  in  the  re- 
prefentatlon.  Which  may  teach  us,  that  any 
kind  of  difguife  will  ferve  the  turn  5  and,  that 
witty  men  will  never  be  at  a  lofs  for  one. 

Of  all  the  virtues  that  were  fo  much  in  this 
noble  writer's  heart,  and  in  his  writingSj 
there  was  not  one  he  more  revered  than  love 
of  public  liberty  j  or  which  he  would  lefs  fuf- 
pect  fliould  become  liable  to  the  impreffions 
of  buffoonry.     Methinks  I  hear  him  fay. 

One  may  defy  the  world  to  turn  the  love 

of  public  liberty  into  ridicule :  a  ttian  mufl 
<*  be  foundly  ridiculous,  who,  with  all  the 
*'  wit  imaginable,   would  go  about  it." 

However,  once  on  a  time,  a  great  wit  fet 

upon  this  taik  5  he  undertook  to  laugh  at  this 

I  very 


<r 


DEDICATION.         xv 

very  virtue  j  and  that  too,  fo  fuccefsfully,  that 
he  fet  the  whole  nation  a  laughing  with  him. 
What  mighty  engine,  you  will  afk,  was  em- 
ployed, to  put  in  motion  fo  large  a  body,  and 
for  fo  extraordinary  a  caufe  ?  In  truth,  a  very 
fmiple  one  :  a  difcourfe,  of  which  all  the  wit 
confifts  in  the  title ;  and  that  too  fculking,  as 
you  will  fee,  under  one  unlucky  word.  Mrs^ 
Bull's  'vindication  of  the  indifpenfable  duty  of 
cucKOLDOM,  incumbent  upon  'wives,  in  cafe 
of  the  tyranny^  infidelity^  or  infufficiency  of 
hufbands  ^.  Now  had  the  merry  reader  been 
but  fo  wife  to  refledt,  that  reafon  was  the  teft 
of  ridicule,  and  not  ridicule  the  tejl  of  truth, 
he  would  have  feen  to  rectify  the  proportion, 
and  to  ftate  it  fairly  thus :  Jhe  indifpenfable 
duty  of  DIVORCE,  etc.  And  then  the  joke 
had  been  over,  before  the  laugh  could  have 
begun. 

And  now  let  this  noble  writer  tell  us,  as 
he  does,  that  fair  honefty  can  never  bear  an 
edge  againft  herfelf  fir  that  nothing  is  ridi- 
culous but  what  is  deformed  -,  and  a  great  deal 
to  the  fame  purpofe,  which  his  Platonic  man- 
ners had  fupplied  him  with. 

But  very  often  the  change  put  upon  us  is- 
not  fo  eafily  difcernible.     Sulpicius  tells  Ci- 
cero,  that  returning  by  fea  from  Afia,    and 
feeing  in  his  courfe  iEgina,  Megara,  the  Pi" 
i!  Hijiory  of  John  Bull,  firft  part,  chap.  xiii. 

raeeus,. 


XVI        D  E  D  I  C  A  T  I  O  N. 

raeeus,  and  Corinth  in  ruins,  he  fell  into  thii 
very  natural  and  humane  reflexion  :  "  And 
"  fliall  we,  fhort-lived  creatures  as  we  are, 
"  bear  with  impatience  the  death  of  our  fel- 
"  lows,  when,  in  one  fingle  view  we  behold 
*'  the  carcafes  of  fo  many  lately  flourifliing 
*'  cities  ?  ^  '*  What  could  be  jufier  or  wifer 
than  the  piety  of  this  reflexion  ?  And  yet  it 
could  not  efcape  the  ridicule  of  a  celebrated 
french  buffoon,     "  If  neither  (fays  he"')  the 

I  Ex  Afia  rediens,  cum  ab  JEgms.  Megaram  verfus  na- 
VJo^arem,  ccepi  regiones  circumcirca  profpicere.  Poft  me 
crat  JEg\m ;  ante  Megara  ;  dextra  Piraeeus ;  fmiftra  Co- 
rinthus :  quae  oppida  quodam  tempore  florentiflima  fue- 
runt,  nunc  proftrata,  &  diruta  ante  oculos  jacent.  Cce- 
pi egomet  mecum  fic  cogitare  :  Hem  !  nos  homunculi  in- 
dignamur,  fi  quis  noftrum  interiit,  aut  occifus  eft,  quo- 
rum vita  brevior  efl'e  debet,  cum  uno  loco  tot  oppidum 
cadavera  proje£lajaceant?  Sitlpicius  M.  T,  Ciceroni^  lib*- 
iv.  ep.  5. 

**  Superhes  tnonumens  de  Vorgueil des  huma'ms, 
Piramides,  Tombeaux,  dont  la  vaine  ftrucElure 
A  temoigne  que  I'art,  par  TadrefTe  des  mains 
iEt  i'aflidu  travail,  peut  vaincre  la  nature  ! 
Vieux  palais  ruinez,  chef  d'ceuvres  des  Romains^ 
Et  les  derniers  efforts  de  leur  archite£hire, 
CoUifee,  ou  fouvent  ces  peuples  inhumains 
De  t" entr' ajfajfiner  fe  donmlent  iablaturey 
Par  I'injure  des  ans  vous  eftes  abolis, 
Ou  du  moins  la  plus  part  vous  eftes  demolis : 
II  n'eft  point  de  ciment  que  le  temps  ne  diflbudegk 
Si  vos  marbres  fi  durs  ont  fentis  fen  pouvoir, 

.*'  Pyramid? 


DEDICATION.       xvii 

"  Pyramids  of  Egypt,  nor  the  ColofTeum  at 
"  Rome  could  withftand  the  injury  of  time ; 
*'  why  fhould  I  think  much  that  my  black 
**  waiftcoat  is  out  at  elbows  ? "  Here,  indeed, 
the  firfl  thing  to  be  obferved  is  the  fuperior 
refiftance  of  truth. 

The  buffoon,  before  he  could  throw  an  air 
of  ridicule  on  this  admirable  fentiment,  was 
forced  to  change  the  image  -,  and  in  the  place 
of  iEgina,  Megara,  etc.  to  fubftitute  the  Py- 
ramids and  Coloffeum.  For  thefe  latter,  as 
they  were  the  monuments  of  human  pride, 
and  folly,  eafily  fuffered  a  ridiculous  turn: 
but  the  former,  as  free  cities,  the  nurferies  of 
arts  and  commerce,  and  being  the  nobleft 
efforts  of  human  wifdom  and  virtue,  could 
not  fo  well  be  let  in  any  idle  light. 

But  then,  how  few  of  his  readers  were 
able  to  deted  the  change  put  upon  them, 
when  it  is  highly  probable  the  author  himfelf 
did  not  fee  it  ?  who,  perplexed  at  the  obfti- 
nate  refiftance  of  fnitb,  in  the  various  ar- 
rangement of  his  ideas  turned  the  edge  of 
his  raillery,  before  he  was  aware,  again  ft  the 
phantafm  of  //,  and  was  the  firft  that  fell 
into  his  own  deceit. 

Dois-je  trouver  mauvals,  qu'un  mefchantpourpoint  noir, 
Q^ii  m'adure  deux  ans,  foit  pcrce  par  le  coude  ? 

Vol.  I.  a  Hence 


xviii        DEDICATION. 

Hence  may  be  feen  what  the  noble  writer 
feems  to  have  fpoken  at  random,  at  leaft,  not 
at  all  to  the  purpofe  of  the  queftion  he  was 
upon,  that  fuch  indeed  is  the  inflexible  nature 
of  truth,  that  all  the  wit  in  the  world  can  ne- 
ver render  it  ridiculous,  till  it  be  fo  diftorted 
as  to  look  like  error,  or  fo  difguifed  as  to 
appear  like  folly.  A  circumftance  which, 
though  it  greatly  recommends  the  maje- 
Jiy  ofinrtue,  yet,  as  it  cannot  fecure  it  from 
infult,  doth  not  at  all  fhew  the  innocence  of 
ridicule*,  which  was  the  point  he  had  to 
prove. 

But  to  fee  what  little  good  is  to  be  expcdted 
in  this  way  of  iioit  and  humour^  one  may  go 
further  ;  and  obferve,  that  even  the  ridicule 
oi  falfe  virtue,  which  furely  deferves  no  quar- 
ter, hath  been  fometimes  attended  with  very 
ill  effeds.  The  Spaniards  have  lamented, 
and  I  believe  truly,  that  Cervantes's  juft 
and  inimitable  ridicule  of  knight-errantry 
rooted  up,  with  that  folly,  a  great  deal  of  their 
real  honour.  And  It  appears  very  evident, 
that  Butler's  fine  fatire  on  fanaticijm  contri- 
buted not  a  little,  during  the  licentious  times 
of  Charles  II.  to  hung  fcber  piety  into  difcre- 
dit.  The  reafon  is  evident :  there  are  many 
lines  of  refemblance  between  truth  and  its 
counterfeits:  and  it  is  the  province  of  wit 
only  to  find  out  the  likeneffes  in  things  3  and 
I  not 


DEDICATION.        xJk 

hot  the  talent  of  the  common  admirers  of  it  to 
difcover  the  differences. 

But  you  will  fay,  perhaps,  Let  truth,  when 
thus  attacked,  defend  itfelf  with  the  fame 
arms :  for  why,  as  your  mafter  afks,  fliould 
fair  bonefiy  be  denied  the  ufe  of  this  weapon  f 
Be  it  fo  :   come  on  then,  and  let  us  impartial- 
ly attend  the  ilTue.     We  have,  upon  record, 
the  moft  illuftrious  example  of  this  conten- 
tion that  ever  was.  The  difpute  I  mean,  was 
between  Socrates  and  Ariftophanes.     Here 
truth  had  all  the  advantage  of  place,  of  wea- 
pons,  and  of  judges:  the  frjl  employed  his 
whole  life  in  the  caufe  of  virtue  :  the  other^ 
only  a  few  comic  fcenes  againft  it.   But,  hea- 
vens !   againft  what  virtue  !  againft:  the  pureft 
and  brighteil  portion  of  it  that  ever  enlight- 
ened the  gentile  world.     The  wit  of  Arifto- 
phanes  is  well  known  :   that  of  Socrates  was,' 
in  a  fupreme  degree,  iuft,  delicate,  and  ftrongj 
and,  fo  frequent,  that  it  procured  him  the 
name  of  the  Attic  buffoon.      The  place  was 
the  politeft  ftate  in  the  politeft:  time,   Athens 
in  its  glory;  and  tht  judges  the  grave  fenators 
of  Areopagus.  For  all  this,  the  comic  poet  tri- 
umphed :   and  with  the  coarfeft;  kind  of  buf- 
foonry,  little  fitted,  one  v,^ould  think,  to  take  fa 
poli;:e  a  people,  had  the  art  to  tarnifh  all  this 
virtue  ;  and,  what  was  more,   to  make   the 
cjwner  refemble  his  direct  oppofite,  that  cha- 

a  2  ra€t©s' 


XX        DEDICATION. 

rad:er  he  was  moft  unlike,  that  charader  he 
moft  hated,  that  very  character  he  had  em- 
ployed all  his  wit  to  detedl,  lay  open,  and 
confound;  in  one  word,  the  sophist.  The 
confequences  are  well  known  ". 

Thus  will  raillery,  in  defence  of  vice  and 
error,  be  ftill  an  overmatch  for  that  employ- 
ed on  the  fide  of  truth  and  virtue.  Becaufe 
fair  Imiejly  ufes,  though  a  {harp,  yet  an  un- 
tainted weapon  ;  while  knavery  ftrikes  with 
one  empoifoned,  though  much  duller.  The 
honeft  man  employs  his  wit  as  corredlly  as  his 
logic;  whereas  the  very  definition  of  a  knave's 
raillery  is  a  fophifm. 

But,  indeed,  when  a  licentious  buffbonry 
is  once  appealed  to,  and  encouraged;  its  ifllie 
has  no  kind  of  dependance  on  the  fit  choice 
of  its  obje<51:.  All  charaders  fall  alike  before 
it.  In  the  dillblute  times  of  Charles  II,  this 
weapo?iy  with  the  fame  eafe,  completed  the 
ruin  of  the  befl,  and,  of  the  very  worfl  mi- 
nifter.of  that  age.  The  hiflorians  tell  us,  that 
Chancellor  Hyde  was  brought  into  his  mafter's 
contempt,  by  this  court- argument.  They 
mimicked  his  walk  and  geflure,  with  a  fire- 
Ihovel  and  bellows,  for  the  mace  and  purfe. 
The  fame  ingenious  fLroke  of  humour  was 

"  See  this  matter,  and  what  elfe  relates  to  ridicule^ 
as  a  teft  of  Truth,  explained  at  large,  and  in  a  very  juft 
and  elegant  manner,  by  Mr.  Bioiw,  in  his  frji  EJjay  on 
the  Chara^erijUcs. 

3  repeated 


DEDICATION.        xxi 

repeated  en  Secretary  Bennet,  and,  by  the 
happy  addition  of  his  black  patch,  with  the 
very  fame  fuccefs.  Thus,  it  being  the  repre- 
fentation,  and  not  the  objedt  reprefented, 
which  ftrikes  the  fancy,  vice  and  virtue  mufl 
fall  indifferently  before  it. 

I  hope  then,  Gentlemen,  you  will  in  time 
be  brought  to  own,  that  this  method  is  th« 
mod  unfair  in  itfelf,  and  mofl  pernicious  in  its 
confequences :  that  its  natural  effed  is  to  mif- 
lead  the  judgment,  and  to  make  the  heart 
diffolute. 

It  is  a  fmall  matter,  that  the  State  requires 
of  you,  fobriety,  decency,  and  good  manners, 
to  qualify  you  for  the  noble  employment  of 
thinking  freely,  and  at  eafe.  We  liave  been 
told  this,  you  will  fay,  before  :  But,  when 
it  came  to  be  explained  j  By  fiber  writing 
was  meant,  writing  in  the  lajigiiage  of  the  ma- 
giftrate.  It  may  be  fo;  but  then,  remember,  it 
was  not  till  you  yourfelves  had  led  the  way  to 
the  abufe  of  words ;  and  had  called  calumny, 
complaint  5  and  a  fcurril  licence,  urbanity. 
Happy  for  you,  that  you  are  in  times  when 
liberty  is  fo  well  underftood.  Had  you  lived 
in  the  boafted  days  of  clalTic  freedom,  he 
amongft  you  who  had  efcaped  beft,  had 
been  branded  with  a  character,  the  anci- 
ent fages  efteemed  mofl:  infamous  of  all,  an 

ENEMY  TO  THE  RELIGION  OF  HIS  COUNTRY. 

23  A  very 


xxii       DEDICATION. 

A  very  candid  and  relpeftable  author  Tpeakr 
ing  of  the  ancient  rejlraints  on  free-thinking, 
fays,  *'  Thefe  were  the  maxims,  thefe  the 
"  principles,  which  the  light  of  nature  fug- 
*'  gefted,  which  reafon  didlated  °."  Nor  has 
this  fine  writer  any  caufe  to  be  alLamed  of  his 
acknowledgment ;  nor  his  adverfaries  any 
pretence  that  he  muft:  needs  efteem  it  the 
meafure  for  the  prefent  times.  For,  as  a  great 
ancient  well  obferves,  '^  It  is  one  thing  to  fpeak 
.*'  of  truth,  and  another  to  hear  truth  fpeak  of 
^'  herfelfp."  It  was  christian  truth 
and  CHARITY,  the  truth  and  charity  you  fo 
much  infult,  which  only  could  take  off  thofe 
reftraints  j  and  require  no  more  of  you  than 
to  be  as  FREE,  but  fiof  ufing  your  liberty  for  a 
cloak  of  mail  ciou file fs  i. 

I  have  now  done  with  your  buffoonry  : 
which,  like  chewed  bullets,  is  againft  the  law 
of  arms ;  and  come  next  to  your  fcurrilities, 
thofe  flink-pots  of  your  ofFenfive  war. 

As  the  CLERGY  of  the  eftabliihed  church 
have  been  more  particularly  watchful  in  what 
is  yet  the  common  caufe  of  all,  the  interefts  of 
Cbrifiianity^  and  mofl;  fuccefsful  in  repelling 
the  infults  of  its  enemies,  they  have  fallen  un- 

"  Letter  to  Dr.  TVaterland^  P*  52>  ^  feg. 
.  ^  I  Pet.  li.  16=. 


DEDICATION.      xxili 

der  the  heaviefl  load  cf  your  calumny  and 
(lander.  With  unparalleled  licence,  you  have 
gone  on,  reprefenting  them  as  debauched, 
avaricious,  proud,  vindid:ive,  ambitious,  de- 
ceitful, irreligious,  and  incorrigible.  "  An 
order  of  men  profligate  and  abandoned  to 
wickednefs,  inconfiflent  with  the  good  of 
fociety,  irreconcileable  enemies  to  reafon, 
and  confpirators  againft  the  liberty  and  pro- 
perty of  mankind  ^" 

To  till  up  your  common  place  of  Dander, 
the  moft  inconfiflent  qualities  have  been 
raked  together  to  deform  them  :  qualities  that 
could  never  ftand  together,  but  in  idea^  and 
in  the  idea  of  a  Free-thinker  too. 

The  Order  is  now  reprefented  as  mofl;  con- 
temptible for  their  politics,  ever  in  the  wrong, 
and  under  a  fatality  of  continued  blunders 
attending  them  as  a  curfe  :  But  anon,  we  are 
told  of  their  deep-laid  fchemes  of  a  feparate 
intereft,  fo  wifely  conduded,  as  to  elude 
and  baffie  all  the  policy  of  courts,  and  wif^ 
dom  of  legillatures. 

Now  they  are  a  fet  of  fuperftitious  bigots, 
and  firey  zealots,  prompt  to  facrifice  the  rights 
of  humanity,  to  the  interells  of  mother- 
church  :   but   now  again,  they  are  I'arttifes 

^  Rights  of  the  Chrijlian  Church,  and  Chriftianity  as 
fid  as  the  Creation,  paffim. 

a  4  nvithouf 


xxiv      DEDICATION. 

without  religion  j  Atheifis  and  Apojiates  iscith^ 
out  faith  or  law. 

This  moment,  fo  united  in  one  common 
confederacy,  as  to  make  tiieir  own  policy 
the  cauie  of  God  :  But,  the  next,  fo  divided, 
as  to  have  every  man's  hand  againft  his  bro- 
ther, tearing  and  worrying  one  another  ;  to 
the  great  fcandal  of  the  charitable  author  of 
the  Difcourfe  of  free-thinking. 

But  it  is  to  be  hoped,  as  the  evidence  Is 
fo  ill  laid  together,  the  accufation  may  be 
groundlefs. 

But  ^hy  do  I  talk  of  the  clergy,  when 
there  is  not  one,  however  otherwife  efteem- 
ed  by,  or  related  to  you,  that  can  efcape 
your  flander,  if  he  happen  to  difcover  the 
leail  inclination  for  that  caufe,  againft  which 
you  are  fo  virulendy  bent  ?  Mr.  Locke^  the 
honour  of  this  age,  and  the  inftrudlor  of  the 
future,  fliews  us,  in  the  treatment  he  re- 
ceived from  his  friend  and  from  his  pu- 
pil, what  a  believer  is  to  expect  from  you. 
It  was  enough  to  provoke  their  refentment, 
that  he  had  fhewn  the  reafonahlenefs  of  Chri- 
jlianit-j ;  •  and  had  placed  all  his  hopes  of 
happinefs  in  another  life. 

The  intimacy  betv/een  him  and  Mr.  CoU 
lins  is  well  known.  Mr.  Collins  feemed  to 
idolize  Mr.  Locke  while  living  ;  and  Mr, 
Locke  was  confident  Mr.  CQllim  would  prefer^oe 

his 


DEDICATION.        xxv 

his  memory  when  dead'.  But  he  chanced  to 
to  be  miftaken  :  For  no  fooner  was  he  gone, 
than  Mr.  Collifis  publickly  *  infults  a  notion  of 
his  honoured  friend,  concerning  the  pojjibility 
of  conceiving  how  matter  might  firfl  be  ??iade 
and  begin  to  be  :  And  goes  afFedtedly  out  of 
-  his  way  to  iliew  his  good  will  to  his  memory. 
The  noble  author  of  the  CharaBerifiia 
had  received  *  part  of  his  education  from 
that  great  philofopher  :  And  it  mull  be  own- 
ed, that  this  lord  had  many  excellent  quali- 
ties, both  as  a  man,  and  a  writer.  He  was 
temperate,  chafte,  honeft,  and  a  lover  of 
his  country.  In  his  writings  he  hath  fhewn 
how  largely  he  had  imbibed  the  deep  fenfe, 
and  how  naturally  he  could  copy  the  graci- 
ous manner  of  Tlato.  How  far  Mr.  Locke 
contributed  to  the  cultivating  thefe  qualities, 
I  will  not  enquire  :  But  that  inveterate  ran- 
cour which  he  indulged  again  ft  Ckrifiianit^, 
it  is  certain,  he  had  not  from  his  mafter. 
It  was  Mr.  Locke  s  love  of  it  that  feems  prin- 
cipally to  have  expofed  him  to  his  pupil's  bit- 
tereft  infults.    One  of  the  moft  precious  re- 

^  "  I  know  you  loved  me  living,  and  v^ill  preferve  my 
"  memory  now  I  am  dead,"  fays  he  in  his  letter  to  be 
delivered  to  Mr,  Collins  at  his  death. 

s  Anfiuer  to  Dr.  Clarke'j  third  Defence  of  his  Letter 
to  Mr.  Dodwell,  at  the  end. 

^  See  Blbl.  Cholfe,  torn,  vi,  p.  343. 

mains 


%xvi        DEDICATION. 

mains  of  the  piety  of  that  excellent  man,   are 
his  laft  words  to  Mr.  Collins :    "  May  you 
"  live  long  and  happy,  &c.  all  the  ufe  to  be 
"  made  of  it  is,   tha^  this  world  is  a  fcene  of 
"  canity,  that  foon  pajfes  away^   and  affords 
*'  no  folid  fatisfadiion,  but  the  confcioufnefs 
*'  of  well  doing,  and   the  hopes  of  ano- 
^'  THER  LIFE.     This  is  what  I  can  fay  by 
"  experience,  and  what  you  will  find  when 
"  you  come  to  make  up  your  account*."  One 
would  think,  that  if  ever  the  parting  breath 
of  pious  men,   or  the  laft  precepts  of  dying 
philofophers,  could  claim  reverence  of  their 
ilirvivors,  this   noble  m.onument  of  friend- 
fhlp,  and  religion,  had  been  fecure  from  out- 
rage.    Yet  hear,    in  how  unworthy,  how 
cruel  a  manner,  his  noble  difciple  apoftro- 
phizes  him  on  this  occafion  :  "  Fhihfopher  ! 
**  let  me  hear  concerning   life,    what    the 
'^  right  notion  is,  and  what  I  am  to  ftand  to 
"  upon  occafion  ;  that  I  may  not,  when  life 
^^  feems   retiring,    or  has   run  itfelf  out  ta 
*^  the  very  dregs  ",  cry  vanity  !    condemn 
*'  the  WORLD,   and  at  the  fame  time  com- 
''  plain  that  life   is  short  and  passing. 
*'  For  why  fo  Jhorf  indeed,  if  not  found 
*'■  fweet  f  Why  do  I  complain  both  ways  ? 
*'  Is  'vanity,  mere  vanity,  a  happinefs  j  or 

*  Amongft  his  Letters  publifhed  by  Defmaizeaux. 

V  ?.Ir.  Locke  \v?L^  then  in  his  73''  year. 

^'  car> 


DEDICATION.      xxvii 

**  can  mifery  pafs  away  too  foon  ^  ?"  Here 
the  polite  author  had  the  noble  pleafure  o£ 
ridiculing  the  philofopher  and  the  Pfalmiji  y 
together.  But  1  will  leave  the  ftrange  re- 
flexions, that  naturally  arife  from  hence,  to 
the  reader  ;  who,  I  am  fure,  will  be  before- 
hand with  me  in  judging,  that  Mr.  Locke 
had  reafon  to  condemn  a  world  that  afforded 
fuch  2.  friend  and  pupil  ^. 

X  Chara5ierijiics,  vol.  i.  p.  302.   3*^  ed. 

y  Man  is  like  to  vanity  :  His  days  are  as  a  JJ^adoiXf 
that pajfeth  away.  Psal.  cxliv.  4. 

2  The  fpite  he  bore  his  mafter  Is  inconceivable  :  He 
did  not  difdain  to  take  up  With,  thofe  vulgar  calumnies 
that  Mr.  Locke  had  again  and  again  confuted.  *'  Some 
**  even  (fays  he,  CharaSi.  vol.  i.  p.  80.  3'  ed.)  of  our 
"  moft  admired  modern  philofophers  had  fairly  told  us, 
*'  that  virtue  and  vice  had,  after  all,  no  other  law^  or 
*'  meafure  than  mere  faihion  and  vogue."  The  cafe 
is  this :  When  Mr.  Locke  reafons  againft  innate  ideas^ 
he  brings  it  as  one  argument  againfl  them,  that  virtue 
and  vice  In  many  places,  were  not  regulated  by  the  na- 
ture of  things,  v/hlch  they  muft  have  been,  were  there 
fuch  innate  ideas  :  But  by  mere  fafhion  and  vogue.  Is 
this  then  fairly  told  of  our  admired  modern  philofopher  ? 
But  it  was  crime  enough  that  he  laboured  to  overthrovir^ 
innate  ideas  s  things  that  the  noble  author  underftood  to 
be  the  foundation  of  his  ??ioral  fyife.  (See  vol.  iii.  p. 
214.)  In  vain  did  Mr.  Locke  incelTantly  repeat,  that 
"  the  divine  law  is  the  only  true  touchflone  of  moral 
^'  reaitude."  This  did  but  increafe  his  pupil's  refent- 
ment,  who  had  all  his  faculties  poffefled  v/ith  the  mo- 
ral SENSF,  as  "  the  only  true  touchftone  of  moral 
J*  reditude."     But  the   whole  EfTay  itfelf,  one  of  the 

But 


xxviii     DEDICATION. 

But  to  return,  Gentlemen,  to  your  abufc 
of  the  clergy  :  this  is  not  only  to  affront  re- 
ligio?ty  which,  by  your  pradice,  you  feem 
to  regard  as  one  of  the  effential  branches  of 
literary  liberty  j  but  likewife,  to  infult  civil 
fociety.  For  while  there  is  fuch  a  thing  as 
a  church  eflabli/hed  by  law,  the  minijiry  of 
it  muft  needs  bear  a  facred,  that  is,  a  public 
charadter,  even  on  your  own  principles  *. 
To  abufe  them,  therefore,  as  a  body,  is  in- 
fulting  the  fl:ate  that  protedls  them.  It  is 
highly  injurious  likewife,  becaufe  a  body-po- 
litic cannot  preferve  the  reverence  neceffary 

ncblefl,  and  moft  original  books  in  the  world,  could 
not  efcape  his  ridicule  :  "  In  reality  (fays  he,  vol.  i, 
*'•  p.  299.)  how  fpecious  a  ftudy,  how  folenin  an  amufe- 
*'  inent,  is  raifcd  from  what  we  call  philofophical  fpe- 
**  culations  !  The  formation  of  ideas  !  their  compofi- 
"  tions,  comparifons,  agreement,  and  difagreement  ! 
*<  — Why  do  I  concern  myfelf  in  fpeculatlons  about 
*'  my  ideas  ?  \^'hat  is  it  to  me,  for  inftance,  to  know 
**  what  kind  of  idea  I  can  fonn  of  fpace  r  Divide  a  fo- 
*'  lid  body,  f/c."  and  fo  he  goes  on  in  Mr.  Locke't,  own 
words  :  And  left  the  reader  fliould  not  take  the  fatire,  a 
note  at  the  bottom  of  the  page  informs  us,  that  "  thefe 
*'  are  the  words  of  the  particular  author  cited."  But  the 
invidious  Remark  on  this  quotation  furpafies  all  credit. 
Thus  the  atomiji,  or  Epicurean.  The  Free-thinkers- 
after  this,  can  never  fure  upbraid  us  with  our  flippancy 
in  giving  the  name  of  Dc'ijl  and  At^eiji  to  thofe  we  do 
not  like,  when  the  very  hero  of  their  caufe  is  thus  taken 
in  the  fact. 

=>  "  They  alfo  that  have  authority  to  teach,  etc.  are 
*'  public  rainifters,"'  Leviathan^  p.    124. 

for 


DEDICATION.      xxix 

for  the  fupport  of  government,  longer  than 
its  public  officers,  whether  civil  or  religious, 
are  treated  with  the  regard  due  to  their  re- 
fpedive  flations  ^  And  here,  your  excufe, 
when  charged  with  uling  holy  Writ  irreve- 
rently, is  out  of  doors.  You  pretend  that  the 
accufation  is  dilingenuous,  becaufe  it  takes 
for  granted  the  thing  in  difpute.  But  in  the 
cafe  before  us,  it  is  agreed,  that  the  minifters 
of  the  edablifhed  worfhip  have  a  facredy 
that  is,  2i  public  charaifler. 

Out  of  your  own  mouths  like  wife,  are  you 
condemned.  A  few  inftances  there  are  in 
the  firft  ages  oi  Chrifiianity^  of  fomething  re- 
fembling  this  mifcondudl  j  where  the  intem- 
perance of  private  zeal  now  and  then  gave 
the  affront  to  the  national  religion.  But  who 
are  they  that  fo  feverely  cenfure  this  diforder  ? 
that  raife  fuch  tragic  outcries  againft  the 
fad:ious  fpirit  of  primitive  Chrifiianity  F  Who, 
Gentlemen,  but  Yourfelves !  The  very  men 
who,  out  of  fpite  and  wantonnefs,  daily  per- 
fift  in  doing  what  a  mifguided  devotion,  now 
and  then,  though  rarely,  betrayed  a  martyr 
to  commit. 

But  would  you  read  Chrifiian  antiquity 
with  equal  minds,  you  would  not  want  exam- 

xoV^oy  cu^H    TZQMuq^   -^^  24^rr^U'..     Anf.    Scrip,    apud 
Stob.  dc  rep.  Serm.  41. 

pies 


kxx       DEDICATION. 

pies  of  a  better  conduct.  For  in  general  the 
apologifls  for  the  Chrijiiaji  faith  obferved  a  de- 
cency and  moderation,  becoming  the  truth  and 
importance  of  the  caufe  they  had  to  fupport. 
We  need  only  look  into  Ladiantim  for  the 
modefty  of  their  condu(fl  in  this  refpedl. 

This  eloquent  apologift,  who  wrote  in  an 
age  that  would  have  indulged  greater  liber- 
ties, giving  in  his  divine  injiitutions^  the  lafl: 
ilroke  to  expiring  paganifm  ;  where  he  con- 
futes the  national  religion^  fpares  as  much  as 
poffible  the  priejis ;  but  in  expoiing  their  ^y6/- 
lofophy^  is  not  fo  tender  of  their  fophijis  :  For 
thefe  laft  having  no  public  charadter,  the 
State  was  not  concerned  to  have  them  manag- 
ed. Such,  I  fay,  was  the  general  behaviour 
of  the  firfl  Chrijiia?2s. 

Nor  can  you  plead,  in  your  excufe,  any 
other  neceffity,  than  that  infeparable  from  a 
weak  caufe,  of  committing  this  violence.  The 
difcovery  of  truth  is  fo  far  from  being  ad- 
vanced by  it,  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  carries 
all  the  marks  of  defign  to  retard  the  fearch, 
when  you  fo  induftrioully  draw  off  the  rea- 
der's attention  from  the  caiife^  by  diverting, 
him  at  the  expence  of  the  advocate. 

It  is  true,  that  at  what  time  the  Clergy 
fo  far  forgot  the  nature  of  their  office,  and 
of  the  caufe  they  were  appointed  to  defend, 
as  to  call  in  the  fecular  arm  to  fupport  their 

argu-* 


DEDICATION.       xxxi 

Arguments  againft  wrong  opinions,   we  faw 
without  much  furprife  or  refentment,  You, 
Gentlemen,  in  the  hke  delufion " ;  falling  with- 
out fcruple  to  affront  the  public,   then  little 
difpofed  to  give  you  an  equal  hearing,  by  the 
abufe  of  a  body,  whofe  private  interefts  the 
State  had  indifcreetly  efpoufed.      For  where 
was  the  wonder,  when  Government  had  af- 
fumed  too  much,  for  thofe  oppreiTed  by  it,  to 
allow  it  too  little  ?  You  thought  this  a  fair  re- 
prifal ;  and  your  candid  enemies  confefled,  that 
fome  indulgence  was  to  be  given  to  the  paf- 
iions  of  men,  raifed  and  inflamed  by  fo  une- 
qual a  treatment.    But  now,  that  the  JIate  has 
withdrawn  its  power,  and  confined  it  within 
its  proper  office  j    and  that  this  learned  body 
publicly  difclaims  its  afliilance  ;  it  will  fure- 
ly  be   expedled,  that  You,  likewife,  fliould 
return  to  a  better  mind,  and  forfake  a  prac- 
tice infolently  continued,  without  any  reafon- 
able  pretence  of  frefh  provocation. 

Your  lafl  abufe,  gentlemen,  of  the  liberty 
of  the  prefs,  is  a  certain  difTolute  habit  of 
mind,  regardlefs  both  of  truth  and  falfhood, 
which  you  betray  in  all  your  attacks  on  reve- 
lation. Who  that  had  not  heard  of  your  fo- 
lemn  ^xoit^ions  of  the  love  of  liberty^  of  truth, 
of  virtue,  of  your  aim  at  the  honour  cf  God, 

'^  Both  fides  believing  any  means  Liv/ful  to  fupport 
what  they  thought  the  truth. 

and 


xxxii     DEDICATION. 

and  good  of  man ^  could  ever  believe  you  had 
any  thing  of  this  at  heart,  when  they  fee 
that  fpirit  of  levity,  and  diffipation  which 
runs  through  all  your  writings  ? 

That  You  may  not  fay  I  llander  you,  1 
will  produce  thofe  marks  in  your  works,  on 
which  I  have  formed  my  accufation,  of  this 
abandoned  temner. 

1.  The  firfl  is  an  illimlted  bufFoonry  ; 
which  fuffers  no  ted  or  criterion  to  your  ri- 
dicule, to  {hew  us,  when  you  are  in  jeft, 
and  when  in  earnefl:. 

2.  An  induftrious  affedatlon  in  keeping 
your  true  character  out  of  fight ;  and  in  con- 
flantly  alTuming  fome  new  and  fidtitious 
perfonage. 

3.  A  love  of  chicane  and  contradiction  ; 
fupported  by  an  unnatural  mixture  of  fcepti- 
cifm  and  dogmatizing. 

And  here,  Gentlemen,  in  illuflrating  thefe 
three  circumftances  of  guilt,  one  might  detedl 
all  your  arti  of  controve?'fyy  and  eafily  difplay 
the  whole  myftery  of  modern  Frec-thinki7ig. 
But  the  limits  of  this  addrefs  will  only  per- 
mit me  in  few  words  to  defcribe  the  general 
nature  of  each  ;  in  order  to  fhew  how  cer- 
tain an  indication  they  are  of  the  turn  of 
mind  I  charge  upon  you. 

I.  The  illimited,  undiftinguifliable  irony, 
which  affords  no  infight  into  the  author's 

mean- 


DEDICATION,  xxxlii 
meaning,  or  (o  much  as  room  to  guefs  what 
he  would  be  at,  is  our  firft  note.  This,  which 
is  your  favourite  extravagance,  the  noble  au- 
thor, who  was  fo  much  your  friend,  calls 
"  a  dull  fort  of  wit  which  amufes  all  alike ''." 
Nay,  he  even  ventures  to  pronounce  it  "  a 
**  grofs,  immoral,  and  illiberal  way  of  abufe, 
**  foreign  to  the  charad'er  of  a  good  writer,  a 
*'  gentleman,  or  man  of  worth  ^"  'Tis  pity 
he  fhould  fall  under  his  own  cenfure  :  Yet 
this  is  certain,  he  hath  fo  managed  his  good 
humour^  that  his  admirers  may  always  iind  a 
handle  to  charge  us  with  credulity,  or  want 
of  charity,  let  us  determine  as  we  will  of  his 
true  and  7'eal  fentimtnts.  However,  the  no- 
ble writer  hath  not  aggravated  this  folly,  in 
the  charaSier  he  hath  given  of  it :  For,  here 
forgetful  of  your  own  precepts,  (your  com- 
mon-place topic  againll:  public  inftrudlors) 
while  you  prefcribe  ridicule  to  be  fo  managed, 
as  tofiew  it  tends  to  a  ferious  ijjue  j  you  prac- 
tife  it  fo  indifcriminately,  as  to  make  one  be- 
lieve you  were  all  the  time  in  jeft.  While  you 
dired  it  to  unmajk  formal  hypocrify^  you  fuffer 
it  to  put  fober  truth  out  of  countenance  ;  and 
while  you  claim  its  aid,  to  find  out  what  is  to 
be  laughed  at  in  every  thing,  you  employ  it 
to  bring  in  every  thing  to  be  laughed  at. 

^  CharaSf.  vol.  i.  tra£l.  ii.  pt.  i.  §  2. 
!  Vol,  iii,  mifcel.  iv,  c.  2. 

b  That 


xxxiv     DEDICATION. 

That  a  reftraint  on  free  enquiry,  will  force 
writers  into  this  vicious  manner,  we  readily 
allow.  Under  thefe  circumftanccs,  fuch  a  kcv 
to  ridicule  as  juft  writing  demands  being  un- 
fafe  J  and  the  only  way  to  efcape  perfecution 
being  to  cover  and  intrench  themfelves  in  ob- 
fcurity  ;  it  is  no  wonder  that  ridiade  fliould 
degenerate  into  the  bujfoonry  that  amufes  all 
alike  :  As  in  Ital\\  which  gave  birth  to  this 
fpecies  of  writing,  it  is  the  only  way,  in  which 
the  poor  crajnpt  tb'mking  ^wr etches  can  dif- 
charge  a  free  thought.  But  in  Great  Britai?7y 
happily  for  Truth,  and  You,  philosophy  is 
at  her  eafe  ;  and  you  may  lead  her  fafely 
back,  thro'  all  the  ancient  modes  of  doubt- 
ing, objeding,   and  confuting. 

It  is  difficult,  therefore,  to  aflign  any  other 
likely  caufe  of  this  extravagance,  than  that  vi- 
cious levity  of  fpirit  I  have  charged  upon  you. 
For  as  Man  is  formed  bv  nature  with  an  in- 
credible appetite  for  Truth  ;  fo  his  Ifrongeft 
pleafure,  in  the  enjoyment,  arifcs  from  the 
^d:ual  communication  of  it  to  others.  With- 
out this,  it  would  be  a  cold  purchafe,  would 
abftradl,  ideal,  folitary  Truth ;  and  poorly  re- 
pay the  labour  and  fatigue  of  the  purfuit. 
Amongfl:  the  Ancients,  who,  you  will  allow, 
had  high  notions  of  this  social  sense,  it 
was  a  faying  recorded  by  Cicero  with  appro- 
bation, ^l  that  even  heaven  would  be  no  hap- 

^"  pinefs. 


DEDICATION,     xxx? 

*'  plnefs,  to  him  who  had  not  feme  compa- 
**  nion  o^  fecial fpirit  to  fhare  with  him  in 
^*  the  pleafure  of  contemplating  the  great 
*''  truths  of  nature  there  revealed  unto  him.'* 
**  Si  quis  in  coeliim  afcendifTet,  naturamque 
'^  mundi,  et  pulchritudinem  fiderum  perfpex- 
**  ifTet,  infuavem  illam  admirationem  ei  fore  j 
**'  quae  jucundifiima  fuiffet,  fi  aliquem,  cui 
"  narraret,  habuiffet^."  Seneca  goes  yet  fur- 
ther: **  Nee  me  ulla  res  deledlabit,  licet  ex- 
**  imia  fit  et  falutaris,  quam  mihi  uni  fciturus 
*^  fim.  Si  cum  hac  exceptione  detur  fapien* 
"  tia,  ut  illam  inclufam  teneam,  nee  enun- 
"  ciem,  rejiciam  :  nullius  boni,  fine  sociOj 
"  jucunda  pofTefTio  efl  ^"  It  was  this  paffion 
which  gave  birth  to  writing,  and  brought  li- 
terary compofition  to  an  art  3  whereby  the 
public  was  made  a  fharer  in  thofe  important 
truths,  which  particulars  had  with  fo  much 
toil  excogitated  for  its  ufe  and  entertainment. 
The  principal  objed:  therefore  of  an  author^ 
while  his  paffions  are  in  their  right  (late,  muft 
needs  be  to  deliver  his  fentiments  and  opinions 
with  all  poflible  clearnefs :  fo  as  no  particular 
cafl  of  compofition,  or  turn  of  exprefuon, 
which  he  held  conducive  to  the  embeliifli- 
ment  of  his  work,  fliould  be  fuffered  to  tbrov/ 
an  ambiguity  on  his  propofiticns,  capable  of 
mifleadins;  the  reader  in  kid^ino-  of  his  real 

I  De  J/nkitiffi  ^  Fp,  vi. 

b  2  fenti- 


xxxvi     DEDICATION. 

fentiments.  To  fuch  a  one,  nothing  can  be  2 
greater  concern  than  to  find  that  this  his  prin- 
cipal purpofe  was  defeated. 

But  when,  on  the  contrary,  we  fee  a  wri- 
ter, who  is  fo  far  from  difcovering  any  thing 
of  this  concern,  that  an  air  of  negligence  ap- 
pears in  every  thing  he  delivers  5  a  vifibic 
contempt  of  his  reader's  fatisfaction,  to  which 
he  prefers  a  dull  malicious  pleafure  of  mif- 
leading  him  in  the  obfcurity  of  an  illimited 
ridicule  3  we  cannot  poffibly  avoid  conclud- 
ing fuch  a  one  to  be  far  gone  in  this  wretched 
depravity  of  heart. 

2.  Another  mark,  is  Your  perpetually  af- 
fuming  fome  perfonatcd  character,  as  the  exi- 
gence of  chicane  requires.  For  the  difpute 
is  to  be  kept  on  foot  j  and  therefore,  when 
in  danger  of  coming  to  an  iiTue,  a  new  per- 
fonage  is  to  be  afTumed,  that  the  trial  of  fkill 
may  be  fought  over  again  with  different  wea- 
pons. So  that  the  modern  Free-thinker,  is 
a  perfedl  Proteus.  Ke  is  now  a  DiiTenter,  or 
a  Papift  J  now  again  a  Jew,  or  a  Mahometan ; 
and,  when  clofely  prefTed  and  hunted  through 
all  the  Ihapes,  he  at  length  ftarts  up  in  his 
genuine  form,  an  Infidel  confeffed  ^. 

Indeed  where  the  Magiftrate  hath  confin- 
ed the  liberty  of  free  debate,  to  one  or  two 
profefhons,  There,  an  unlicenced  writer  hath 
»>  Mr.  Co/Iins. 

no 


DEDICATION,     xxxv  i 

no  way  of  publifhing  his  fpeculations,  but 
under  the  cover  of  one  of  thefe  authorized 
ProfefTors.  But  to  affedt  this  practice  after 
the  necelTiry  is  over,  is  licentious  and  immo- 
ral. For  the  perfonated  character,  only  ar- 
guing ad  ho7?iinem,  embroils,  rather  than  di- 
rects us,  in  the  fearch  of  truth  ;  has  a  natu- 
ral tendency  to  promote  fcepticifm  j  and  if  not 
this,  yet  it  keeps  the  difpute  from  ever  com- 
ing to  an  iffue  j  which  is  attended  with  great 
inconveniences.  For  though  the  difcovery  of 
fpeculative  truth  be  of  much  importance  to 
the  perfe<flion  of  man's  nature,  yet  the  flu- 
dious  lengthen;«ig  out  literary  debates,  is 
greatly  pernicious  to  fociety,  as  focieties  are 
generally  formed.  Therefore,  though  the 
good  of  mankind  would  fet  an  honeft  man 
upon  publiiliing  what  he  takes  to  be  difcove- 
ries  in  truth  ;  yet  the  fame  motive  would 
oblige  him  to  take  the  faireft,  and  mofl  di- 
re(5l  road  to  their  reception. 

But  I  would  not  have  it  thought,  by  this, 
that  I  condemn  the  afluming  a  perfonatcd 
character  on  all  occafions  whatfoever.  There 
are  feafons  when  it  is  fair  and  expedient. 
When  the  difpute  is  about  the  practical 
application  of  fome  truth  to  the  good  of  a  par- 
ticular fociety  ;  there  it  is  prudent  to  take 
up  a  fuitable  charader,  and  to  argue  ad  homi- 
nem.     For  there,  the  end  is  a  benefit  to  be 

b  3  gained 


xxxviii    DEDICATION, 

gained  for  that  fociety  ;  and  it  is  not  of  fo  great- 
moment  on  what  principles  the  majority  is 
prevailed  upon  to  make  the  fociety  happy,  as 
it  is,  that  it  ihould  fpeedily  become  fo.  But  in 
the  difcovery  of  abstract  speculative 
truth  J  the  affair  goes  quite  otherwife.  The  bu- 
finefs  here  is  demonjiration^  not perfuajio?!.  And 
it  is  of  the  effence  of  truth,  to  be  made  ap- 
pear and  ihine  out  only  by  its  own  luftre. 

A  familiar  example  will  fupport  this  ob- 
fervation.  Our  great  Britijh  philofopher, 
writing  for  religious  liberty,  combats  his  in- 
tolerant adverfaryj  ail  the  way,  with  his  own 
principles ;  well  knowing  that,  in  fuch  a 
time  of  prejudices,  arguments  built  on  re- 
ceived opinions,  would  have  greateft  weight, 
and  iijake  quickefl  imprefTion  on  the  body  of 
the  People,  whom  it  was  his  bulinefs  to  gain. 
But  the  method  he  employed  in  defending 
mere  fpeculative  truth  was  very  different.  A 
Prelate  of  great  name,  was  pleafed  to  attack 
hjs  ejfay  concerning  human  underjianding  ; 
v/ho,  though  confummate  in  the  learning  of 
the  Schools,  yet  happened  at  that  time  to  ap- 
ply his  principles  fo  very  aukwardly,  as  gave 
qur  philofopher  the  moft  inviting  opportuni- 
ty of  turning  them  againfl  him.  An  advan- 
tage mofl  to  the  tafle  of  him  who  contends 
only  for  vidory  :  but  he  contended  for 
truth  i  and  was  tpo  wife  to  think  of  efta- 

blifliing 


DEDICATION,     xxxix 

blifliing  it  on  falfhood  ;  and  too  honefl  to 
affed:  triumphing  over  error  by  any  thing  but 
by  its  oppofite. 

You  fee  then,  Gentlemen,  you  are  not 
likely  to  efcape  by  this  diflindion  :  the  dif- 
pute  with  you  is  about  fpeculative  truth  : 
Yourfelves  take  care  to  give  the  world  re- 
peated information  of  it,  as  often  as  you 
think  fit  to  feign  an  apprchenfion  of  the  Ma- 
giflrate's  refentment. 

But  of  as  little  ufe  as  this  method,  of  the 
ferfonaied  chara^er,  is,  in  itfelf,  to  thejufl- 
end  of  controverfy,  you  generally  add  a  dou- 
ble fliare  of  difingenuity  in  conduding  it. 
Common  fenfe,  as  well  .vj  common  honcfly, 
requires,  that  he  who  alfumes  a  pcrfonated 
character,  lliould  fairly  ftick  by  it,  for  that 
turn  at  leall.  But  we  fliall  be  greatly  de- 
ceived, if  we  prefume  on  fo  much  condef- 
cenlion  :  the  late  famous  author  of  T'he 
Grounds  and  Rcafons  of  the  ChrijVan  Religioji^ 
took  it  into  his  head  to  perfonate  a  Jew,  in 
the  interpretation  of  fome  prophefies  which 
he  would  perfuade  us  are  not  applicable  to 
Jefus.  The  learned  prelate,  who  undertook 
to  anfwer  him,  having  lliewn  that  thofe  pro- 
phefies had  no  completion  under  the  Jewifi 
difpenfation,  concludes  very  pertinently,  that 
if  they  did  not  belong  to  Jelu^^  they  hehng 
to  no  one.     What    fays  our    impoltor  fe'w 

b  4  to 


jti  DEDICATION. 

to  this  ?  One  would  be  aftoniflied  at  his  re- 
ply :  Suppofe  they  do  not^  fays  he,  I  am  7iot 
anfwerable  for  their  completion.  What  !  not 
as  a  yew  "i  whofe  perfon  he  afTumes,  and 
whofe  argument  he  borrows  :  which  ar- 
gument is  not  founded  on  this,  That  the 
charadters  of  completion,  according  to  the 
Chrijlian  fcheme,  do  not  coincide  and  qua- 
drate ;  to  which,  indeed,  his  anfwer  would 
be  pertinent ;  but  on  this,  that  there  are 
complete  charadlcrs  of  the  completion  of  the 
prophefies,  under  the  Jewijh  oeconomy  ; 
and  therefore,  fays  the  Jew,  you  are  not  to 
look  for  thofe  marks  under  the  ChriJiiaUy 
The  only  reafonable  way  then  of  replying 
to  this  argument,  is  to  deny,  that  there  are 
fuch  marks  under  the  fewijh  oeconomy  ; 
which  if  the  few  cannot  prove,  his  objeftion 
founded  on  a  prior  completion^  is  entirely  over- 
thrown. Inftead  of  this,  we  are  put  off  with 
the  cold  buffoonry  of,  I  a?7i  not  obliged  to  find 
a  meaning  for  your  prophefies. 

3.  The  third  mark  of  this  abandoned  fpi- 
rit,  is  that  unnatural  mixture  of  fcepticifm, 
and  dogmatizing,  which  fo  monflroufly  va-^ 
negates  your  misfliapen  works.  I  do  not 
mean  by  it,  that  unreafonable  temper  of 
mind,  which  diftingui/hes  the  whole  clafs  of 
Free-thinkers  j  and  fuffers  you  at  the  fame 
time,  that  you  aifedt  much  fcepticifm,  in  re- 

jeding 


DEDICATION.         xli 

jedling  revelation,  to  dogmatize  very  pofitively 
on  fome  favourite  points  of  civil  tradition. 
The  noble  author,  fo  oft  before  quoted,  could 
not  himfelf  forbear  to  ridicule  his  party  for 
this  foible  *.  "It  muft  certainly,  fays  he,  be 
"  fomething  elfe  than  incredulity  which  fa- 
"  fhions  the  tafte  and  judgment  of  many 
"  Gentlemen,  whom  we  hear  cenfured  as 
*'  Atheifts.  —  Who,  if  they  want  a  true 
"  Ifraelitijlo  faith,  can  make  amends  by  a 
"  Chinefe  or  Indian  one.  —  Though  Chrif- 
"  tian  miracles  may  not  fo  well  fatisfy  them, 
**  they  dwell  with  the  higheft  contentment 
**  on  the  prodigies  of  Moorijh  and  Pagan 
"  countries." 

This  is  ill  enough,  but  the  perverfity  I 
fpeak  of  is  much  worfe  :  and  that  is,  when 
the  fame  writer,  on  different  occafions  affumes 
the  Dogmatijft  and  Sceptic  on  the  fame  que- 
ftion  ;  and  fo  abufes  both  charadters,  by  all 
the  perverfity  of  felf-contradidtion. 

For  inftance,  how  common  is  it  for  one 
of  Your  writers,  when  he  brings  Pagan  an- 
tiquity to  contradi<fl:  and  difcredit  the  Jewijh, 
to  cry  up  a  Greek  hiftorian  as  an  evidence, 
to  which  nothing  can  be  replied  ?  An  im- 
perfed  hint  from  Herodotus,  or  Diodorus, 
though  one  lived  a  thoufand,  and  the  other 
fifteen  hundred  years  after  the  point  in  quef- 
I  CharaSimJiicsy  vol.  i.  p.  345,  edit.  3. 

tion 


xlii        DEDICATION. 

tion,  picked  up  from  any  lying  traveller 
they  met  with  in  their  rambles,  fliall  now 
outweigh  the  circumflantlal  hiflory  of  Mofes-, 
who  wrote  of  his  own  people,  and  lived  in 
the  times  he  wrote  of.  But  now  turn  the 
tables,  and  apply  the  teftimony  of  thefe  wri- 
ters, and  of  others  of  the  beft  credit  of  the 
fame  nation,  to  the  confirmation  of  the  Jewi- 
ijh  hijiory^  and  then  nothing  is  more  uncer- 
tain and  fallacious  than  clafUcal  antiquity. 
All  is  darknefs-  and  confufion  ;  then  we  are 
fure  to  hear  of, 

—  Quicquid  Graecia  mendax 
Audet  in  hiftoria. 


Then  Herodotus  is  a  lying  traveller,  and  DiO'- 
dorm  Siculus  a  hafty  collector. 

Again,  when  the  choice  and  feparation  of 
the  Ifraelites  for  God's  peculiar  people,  is  to 
be  brought  in  queftion,  and  made  ridicu- 
lous ;  they  are  reprefented  as  the  vileft,  the 
moft  profligate,  and  perverfe  race  of  men  : 
then  every  indifcreet  pafTage  of  a  declamatory 
divine  is  raked  up  with  care  to  make  them 
odious ;  and  even  the  hard  fate  of  the  great 
hiftorian  Jofephus  pitied,  that  he  had  "  no  bet- 
"  ter  a  fubjed:  than  fuch  an  illiterate,  bar- 
"  barous,  and  ridiculous  people  ^.'*  But 
when  the  Scripture  account  of  the  treat-, 
ment,  which  the  Holy  Jefus  met  with  from 

5  DtfcQurfe  of  Free-thinkings  p.  157. 

them. 


DEDICATION.       xliii 

them,  is  thought  fit  to  be  difputed  ;  thefe 
yews  are  become  an  humane  and  wife  na- 
tion ;  which  interfered  not  with  the  teachings 
of  fedis,  or  the  propagation  of  opinions,  but 
where  the  public  fafety  was  thought  to  be  in 
danger  by  feditious  doctrines. 

But  fo  it  is,  even  v/ith  the  Bible  itfelf, 
and  its  beft  interpreter,  human  reason. 
It  is  generally  allowed  that  the  author  of  T^he 
T)ifcourfe  of  Free-thinkings  and  of  ^he  Grounds 
end  Reafons  of  the  Chrillian  Religion^  was  one 
and  the  fame  perfon.  Now  it  being  to  his 
purpofe  in  the  firfl  pamphlet,  to  blafl  the 
credit  of  the  book  in  general,  as  a  ride  of 
faith,  the  Bible  is  there  reprefented  as  a  mofl 
obfcure,  dark,  incomprehenfible  colledlion  of 
multifarious  trads.  But  in  his  difcourfe  of 
I'he  Grounds,  etc.  where  ^  he  is  to  obviate 
the  reafon  of  the  difficulty  in  explaining 
ancient  prophefies  drawn  from  the  genius 
of  the  Eaftern  ftyle,  fentiment,  and  man- 
ners ;  this  very  book  is,  on  a  fudden,  be- 
come fo  eafy,  plain,  and  intelligible,  that 
no  one  can  poffible  miftake  its  meaning. 

Again,  the  fame  writer,  where,  in  his 
EJjay  concerning  the  Ufe  of  Reafon,  he  is  upon 
difcrediting  the  dodrine  of  the  ever  blelTed 


Dlfccttrfe  of  Free-thinking,  p.  68.  and  of  the  Grounds 
md  Reafom  of  the  Chrijl'ian  Religion,  p.  8i — 2. 

Trinity, 


I 


xliv        DEDICATION. 

Trinity,  and  other  myfteries  of  the  Chrtfiian 
faith,  reprefents  human  reafon  as  omnif- 
cient,  and  the  full  meafure  of  all  things  : 
but  when  the  proof  of  the  inimateriality  of 
the  foul,  from  the  qualities  of  matter  and 
fpirit,  is  to  be  obftinately  oppofed,  the  fcene 
is  {hifted,  and  we  are  prefented  with  a  new 
face  of  things  :  Reafon  is  then  become  weak, 
daggering,  and  impotent:  then  we  know 
not  but  one  quality  may  be  another  quality  ; 
one  mode  another  mode ;  Motion  may  be 
confcioufnefs  ;  and  Matter  fentient '". 

Thefe,  Gentlemen,  are  the  feveral  ways, 
in  which  you  have  abufed  the  liberty  of 
THE  PRESS.  One  might  defy  you,  with  all 
your  good  will,  to  find  out  a  new  one,  or  to 
go  further  in  the  old  :  You  have  done  your 
worft.  You  fhould  think  of  growing  better. 
This  is  the  only  inference  I  would  draw 
from  your  bad  condudl.  For  I  am  not  one 
of  thofe  who  fay  you  Ihould  be  disfranchifed 
of  the  rights  you  have  fo  wantonly  and  wick- 
edly abufed.  'Natural  rights  were  lefs  pre- 
carioufly  bellowed  :  the  cinjil^  indeed,  are 
frequently  given  on  the  condition  of  our 
good  behaviour.  And  this  difference,  in 
the  fecurity  of  the  polTellion,  is  founded  in 
the  plaineft  reafon.  Natural  rights  are  fo 
neceflary  to  our  being,  that,  without  them, 

?  See  his  Anfwers  to  Dr.  Clarke, 

Life 


DEDICATION.        xlv 

Life  becomes  miferable  5  but  the  civil  only 
contributing  to  our  ealier  accommodation,  in 
feme  circumftances  of  it,  may  be  loft  with- 
out injury  to  our  common  nature. 

In  a  word  then,  all  that  we  defire  is  your 
amendment  -,  without  any  finifter  aim  of 
calling  upon  the  Magiftrate  to  quicken  you. 
So  I  leave  you,  as  I  dare  fay  will  he,  to  your- 
felves.  Nor  let  any  good  man  be  above  mea- 
fure  fcandalized  for  your  faults  ;  or  more  im- 
patient for  your  reformation,  than  mere  cha- 
rity requires.  I  don't  know  what  panic  the 
prefent  growth  of  infidelity  may  have  thrown 
fome  of  us  into  :  I,  for  my  part,  confide  fo 
much  in  the  goodnefs  of  our  caufe,  that  I  too 
could  be  tempted  to  laugh  in  my  turn,  while 
I  think  of  an  old  flory  told  us  hy  Herodotus  ", 

°  Lib.  ii.  c.  14.  vid.  Plutarch.  Symp.  1.  iv.  Prob.  5. 
The  learned  Gale  cannot  be  reconciled  to  this  kind  of 
hufbandry.  He  is  therefore  for  having  the  word  '  Tf,  ufed 
by  Herodotus,  not  to  fignify  fw'me,  but  cows  or  heifers. 
His  authority  for  this  ufe  of  the  v/ord  is  Hejychius.  But 
Plutarch  is  a  much  better  for  the  other  fignification,  who 
in  his  Symp.  quoted  .  above,  fpeaking  to  the  queftion 
Xloxi^iv  01  lovSaToi  (TsGojUevoi  t>jv  wv,  etc.  mentions 
this  very  circumftance  of  tillage  from  Herodotus,  and 
underftands  by  vf  fwine.  The  truth  of  the  matter 
feems  to  be  this,  Hefychius  found  that  vf,  in  fome 
obfcure  province  or  other,  meant  a  Heifer,  as  KXTr^Q* 
amongft  the  Tyrrhenimis  meant  a  goat,  and  fo  put  it 
i^oyfix  to  inrich  his  diilionary  with  an  unufual  fignification. 

2  of 


xlvi       DEDICATION 

of  your  favourite  Egyptians  ;  of  whom  yoii 
are  like  to  hear  a  great  deal  in  the  following 
work.  With  this  tale  I  fhall  beg  leave  to 
conclude  my  long  addrefs  unto  you. 

He  tells  us  then,  that  at  what  time  their 
Deity,  the  Nile,  returns  into  his  ancient  chan- 
nel; and  the  hulbandman  hath  committed 
the  good  feed  to  the  opening  glebe,  it  was 
their  cuflom  to  turn  in  whole  droves  of 
Swine  ;  to  range,  to  trample,  root  up,  and 
deftroy  at  pleaiure.  And  now  nothing  ap- 
peared but  defolation,  while  the  ravages  of 
the  obfcene  herd  had  killed  every  chearful 
hope  of  future  plenty.  When  on  the  iffue, 
it  was  feen,  that  all  their  malice  and  greedi* 
nefs  had  efFeded,  was  only  this ;  that  the 
feed  took  better  root,  incorporated  more 
kindly  with  the  foil,  and  at  length  fhot  up 
in  a  more  luxuriant  and  abundant  harvefl. 


am. 


Gentlemen,  etc» 


PREFACE 


(  xlvii  ) 


PREFACE 

T  O    T  H  E 

FIRST   EDITION 

In  MDCC  XXXVIII. 


TH  E  following  (heets  make  the  Jirji 
"volume  of  a  work,  defigned  to  prove 
the  Divine  origin  of  the  Jewish 
RELIGION.  As  the  author  was  neither  indebt- 
ed, nor  engaged  to  the  Public,  he  hath  done 
his  readers  no  injury  in  not  giving  them 
more  j  and  had  they  not  had  this^  neither  he 
nor  they,  perhaps,  had  eiteemed  themfelves 
lofers.  For  writing  for  no  party,  it  is  like- 
ly he  will  pleafe  none  j  and  begging  no  pro- 
tedlion,  it  is  more  likely  he  will  find  none  : 
and  he  mufl  have  more  of  the  confidence  of 
a  modern  writer  than  falls  to  his  (hare,  to 
think  of  making  much  way  with  the  feeble 
effort  of  his  own  reafon. 

Writers, 


xlviii  PREFACE, 

Writers,  indeed,  have  been  oft  betrayed 
into  ftrange  abfurd  conclufions  from  I  can't 
tell  what  obfolete  claim  which  Letters  have 
to  the  patronage  of  the  Great :  a  relation,  if 
"indeed  there  ever  Vi^ere  any,  long  fince  worn 
out  and  loll  ;  the  Great  now  feeming  reafon- 
ably  well  convinced,  that  it  had  never  any 
better  foundation  than  the  rhetorical  impor- 
tunity of  Beggars. 

But  however  this  claim  of  patronage  may 
be  underftood,  there  is  another  of  a  more 
important  nature  ;  which  is  the  patronage  of 
Religion.  The  Author  begs  leave  to  afllire 
thofe  who  have  no  time  to  fpare  from  their 
attention  on  the  Public,  that  the  protedion 
of  Religion  is  indifpenfably  neceflary  to  all 
Governments ;  and  for  his  warrant  he  offers 
them  the  following  volume  ;  which  endea- 
vours to  (hew  the  neceffity  of  Religion  in  ge- 
neral, and  of  the  doctrine  of  a  Future  State 
in  particular,  to  civil  fociety,  from  the  na- 
ture of  things,  and  the  univerfal  confent  of 
mankind.  The  proving  this,  I  make  no 
queftion,  many  politicians  will  efteem  fuffi- 
cient :  but  thofe  who  are  felicitous  to  have 
religion  true  as  well  as  ufefid,  the  author  will 
endeavour  to  fatisfy  in  th^  following  'volumes. 


A 

SUMMARY 

O  F    T  H  E 

CONTENTS. 

V     O     L.     I. 

In  Two  Parts  and  Three   Books. 

Provei  the  truth  of  religion  in  general^    and 
confequently  the  necejjity  of  the   doSirijie  of 
a  future  fate  in  particular,  to  civil  fociety, 
from  the   nature    of  things,    and  the  uni~ 
verfal  confent  of  mankind. 


PARTI. 

BOOK    I. 

PROVES  the  necejfity  of  the  do^rine  of  a  fu- 
ture fiate    of   rewards    and  pmiifoments    to 
civil  fociety,   from  the  nature  of  the  things 
p.  I  —86. 

Sect.     i. 

jTZ/JE  introdu£fion,  the  nature  of  internal  evidence-^ 
the  occafion  of  this  difcourfe^  and  the  propofttion^ 
p.  1^9. 

VOL.1,  c  Sect. 


CONTENTS. 


Sect.    ii. 


OF  the  original  of  civil  fcciety  •,  the  caufes  ofiti 
defe£fi"je  plan  :  that  this  defe5l  can  he  only  fupplied  by 
religion :  that  religion  under  the  prefent  dijpenfation 
of  providence^  cannot  fuhfijl  without  the  do5lrine. 
of  a  future  Jiate  of  rewards  and  punifhments\ 
therefore  that  doctrine  neceffary  to  civil  fociety^ 
p-  ^  — *  26. 

Sect.  hi. 

1'HE  arguments  of  thofe  who  deny  the  neceffity  of 
religion  to  fociety  ccyifidered :  Pomponatius  falfely 
ranked  in  that  number .^  and  vindicated :  Cardan  cha- 
ra^erized  and  cenfured,  p.  2 6  —  34 . 

Sect.  iv.  and  v. 

Mr,  Bayle,  the  great  defender  of  this  paradox  in 
his  apology  for  atheifm^  examined.  His  arguments 
colleM,  methodized,  and  confuted.  In  the  courfe  of 
this  difputation,  the  true  foundation  of  morality  en- 
quired into,  andfJdewn  to  be  neither  /i^^  elTential  dif- 
ference of  things,  nor  the  moral  fenfe,  but  the  will 
of  God.  The  caufes  of  the  contrary  errors  jhewn  : 
and  the  objections  againji  morality's  being  founded  in 
//&^  will  of  God,  anfwered^  p.  34  —  78. 

Sect.  vi. 

THE  Author  of  the  Fable  of  the  Bees,  who  contends 
that  it  is  Vice,  and  yiot  Virtue,  that  is  ufeful  to  fociety^ 
examined,  expofed,  and  confuted-,  p.  78  —  86* 


BOOK 


CONTENTS.  a 

BOOK    II. 

PRO  VE  S  the  necejfity  of  the  doctrine  of  a  future 
jiate  to  fociety^  from  the  conduct  of  the  ancient  law- 
givers^ and  founders  of  civil  policy^  p.  ^j  —  y6  of 

Sect.    i. 

'THE  ynagifirates  care  in  cultivating  religion,  fljewn, 
I.  From  the  univerfality  of  it,  amongji  all  civil 
policied  nations.  2.  From  /i^^  genius  of  pagan  reli- 
gion, both  with  rega?'d  to  the  nature  of  their  gods, 
the  attributes  ajfigned  to  them,  and  the  mode  of 
worfhip  in  civil  ufe  amongji  them,  p.  ^y  —-,  103. 

Sect.  ir. 

THE  particular  arts  the  legijlator  employed  to  this 
purpofe :  as,  i .  the  univerfal  pra£iice  of  pretending  to 
infpiration.  It  is  fhewn  that  this  was  done  to  efta- 
hlifh  the  opinion  of  the  fuperintendency  of  the  gods 
Qver  human  affairs :  not  to  fecure  the  reception  of 
their  laws  •,  nor  to  render  thofe  laws  perpetual  and 
immutable  when  received,  p.  103  —  m. 

Sect.  m. 

THE  next  art  the  legijlator  ufed  was  to  preface 
his  laws  with  the  do^rine  of  a  providence  in  its 
full  extent.  The  prefaces  to  the  laws  of  Zaleucus 
and  Charondas,  the  only  remains  of  this  kind,  prov- 
ed genuine  againji  the  argumejits  of  a  learned  critic^ 
p.  I  11  —  136. 

c  2  Sect. 


Hi  CONTENTS. 

Sect.  iv. 

THE  next  art  was  the  legijlator^s  invention 
of  the  myfteries,  folely  inftituted  for  the  propaga- 
tion and  fupport  of  the  dc5irine  of  a  future  fate  of 
rewards  and  punijhments.  Their  original  and  pro- 
grefs  deduced :  their  nature  and  end  explained :  their 
llcrets  revealed:  and  the  caufes  of  their  degeneracy 
accounted  for.  To  •  give  a  compleat  idea  of  this 
important  infitution^  the  fixth  hook  of  Virgil  i$  ex- 
amined^ and  the  defcent  of  ^neas  into  hell^  fhewn 
tohe  only  an  initiation  into^  and  reprefentation  of  the 
fhews  of  the  myfleries,  p.  I'^S-^.  ^2g, 


PART 


CONTENTS.  liii 

PART     II. 

Continuation  of  Book   II. 

S  E  C  T.    V. 

tHE  next  injiance  of  the  magifirate's  care  of 
religion^  in  efiahlifhing  a  national  worfhip.  That 
an  eftablifhed  religion  is  the  univerfal  voice  of  na- 
ture.  The  right  of  efiahlifhing  a  religion  jtfiified^ 
in  an  explanation  of  the  true  theory  of  the  union 
between  Church  and  State.  This  theory  applied  as  a 
rule  to  judge  of  the  actual  eftabHfhments  in  the 
pagan  world.  The  caufes  that  facilitated  the  efla- 
blijhment  of  religion  amongjl  them ;  as  likewife  thofe 
caufes  that  kindred  their  ellabUlhments  from  re- 
ceiving  their  due  form ^  p.  i  — .  33. 

Sect.  vi. 

THE  lajl  injiance  of  the  magijlrate's  care  for  the 
fupport  of  religion-,  in  the  allowance  of  a  general 
toleration  :  the  meafiire  and  caufes  of  it  :  the 
nature  of  the  ancient  tolerated  religions  :  hoWy 
under  the  fufervifion  and  dire^ion  of  the  magif- 
trate :  and  hczv  firji  violated  and  deftroyed  by  civil 
tyranny^  p.  0,^  —  76. 

BOOK    HI. 

P  RO  VE  S  the  neceffity  of  the  do5lrine  of  a  future 
jlate  to  fociety,  from  the  opinion  and  conduct  of  the 
ancient  fages  and philofcphers,  p.  jj — 323. 

Sect, 


Uv  CONTENTS. 

Sect.    i. 

'TESTIMONIES  of  ancient  fages  andplvlofophersy 
concerning;  the  necejfity  of  the  do5ir.ine  of  a  future  fiat&, 
to  civil  foci ety,  p.  77  —  85. 

Sect.    ii. 

'THA't  none  of  the  ancient  philofophers  believed  the 
do^lrine  of  a  future  Jiate  of  rewards  and  ptinifh- 
ments,    though,    on  account  of  its  confeffed  neceffity 
to  the  fupport  of  religion^  and  confeqtiently  of  civil 
fociety,  all  the  theiflical  philofophers  feduloufly  taught 
it   to  the  people.     'The  feveral  fenfes  in  which  the 
Ancients  conceived    the  permanency    of  the   human 
foul  explained.     Several  general  reafons  premifed  to- 
jhew    that  the   ancient  philofophers  did  not  always, 
believe  what  they  taught,  and  that  they  taught  the 
do5lrine  of  a  future  Jlate  of  rewards  and  punifh- 
ments  without  believingit :  Where  the  principles  that  in- 
duced the  ancient  fages  to  deem  it  lawful  to  deceive  for 
public  good,  in  matters  of  religion,  are  explained,  where- 
by they  are  feen  to  befuch  as  had  no  place  in  the  propa- 
gation or  genius  of  the  Jewifh  (?WChriflian  religions. 
In  the  courfe  of   this   enquiry,    the   rife,    progrefs, 
perfeSlion,  decline,  and  genius  of  the  ancient  Greek 
philofophy,  under  its  feveral  divifwns,  are  conftdered 
and  explained,  p.  86  —  114. 

Sect.    hi. 

E  NTE  RS  on  a  particular  enquiry  into  the  fen- 
t intents  of  each  fe£l  of  philofophy  on  this  point.  The 
divijion  and  fuccefjion  of  their  fchools.  The  character 
of  Socrates  •,  and  of  the  new  and  old  Academy.  The 
charaUer  and  genius  of  each  feci  of  the  grand 
z  Quaternion 


CONTENTS.  1^ 

Quaternion  of  theijlic  philofaphyj  the  Pythago- 
ric,  the  Platonic,  the  Peripatetic,  and  the  Stoic : 
Jhewn  that  not  one  of  thefe  believed  the  doctrine  of  a. 
future  Jiate  of  rewards  and  punifhments.  The  cha- 
racter 0/ TuUy,  and  his  fentiments  on  this  'point. 
The  original  of  the  ancient  fables^  and  of  the 
do^rines  of  the  Metempfychofis  and  Metamor- 
phofis,  occafionally  enqiiired  into  and  explained^ 
p.  114 —  181. 

S  E  C  T.     IV. 

SHEWS^  in  order  to  a  fuller  ccnvi5fion,  that  the 
ancient  philofophers  not  only  did  not,  but  that  they 
could  not  poflibly  believe  a  future  flate  of  rewards 
and  punifhments,  becaufe  two  raetaphyfical  principles^ 
concerning  the  nature  of  God,  and  of  the  human 
foul,  which  entirely  overturn  the  do^rine  of  a  future 
flate  of  rewards  and  ptmifljnients,  were  univerfally 
held  and  believed  by  all  the  Qx^^  philofophers.  Thefe 
dcSirines  examined  and  explained:  In  the  courfe  of 
■this  enquiry,  the  true  genius  of  the  /2«f?>«/ Egyptian 
wifdom  expla'med  j  and  their  pretended  philofophy,  as 
delivered  by  the  later  Greek  writers,  fhewn  to  be  fpu- 
rious.  The  feSiion  concludes  with  the  ufe  to  be  made  of 
this  remarkable  fa^  {of  the  ancient  philofophers  not 
believing,  and  yet  feduloufly  teaching,  a  future  flate  of 
rewards  and  punifhtnents)  for  the  fupport  of  our  main 
quejlion,  p.  182  — 240. 

S  E  C  T.   V. 

This  account  of  the  ancient  philofopby,  fo  far 
from  being  prejudicial  to  Chriflianity,  that  it 
greafly  credits  and  recommends  it.  Proved  from 
the  mifchiefs  that  attend  thofe  different  reprefen- 
tations  of  paganifm,    in  the  two  extremes^    which 

ths 


Ivi  CONTENTS. 

the  defenders  of  religion  are  accujlomed  to  make; 
where  it  is  fljewn  that  the  difference  in  point  of 
perfection^  between  the  ancient  and  modern 
fyftems  of  morality^  is  entirely  owing  to  Chrifiianity^ 
p.  240  — 245. 

S  JE  C  T.   VI. 

THE  atheiflical  pretence  of  religion^ s  heing  an 
invention  of  ftatefmen^  and  therefore  falfe^  clearly  con- 
futed^ and  fhewn  to  he  both  impertinent  and  falfe. 
For  that,  was  the  Atheiifs  account  of  religion  rights 
it  would  not  fellow  that  religion  was  falfe,  but  the 
contrary.  But  the  pretence  falfe  and  groundlefsy 
religion  having  exified  before  the  civil  magiftrate 
was  in  heing,  p.  246  — -323. 


[  I] 


THE 

DIVINE  LEGATION 

O  F 

MOSES 

DEMONSTRATED. 
B  O  O  K    I. 


SECT.  I. 

^""1    ^  H  E  writers,  in  defence  of  revealed  re- 
■         ligion,  diftinguiih  their  arguments  into 

JBL  two  forts  :  the  one  they  call  the  inter- 
nal, and  the  other  the  external  evidence.  Of 
thele,  the  firft  is,  in  its  nature,  more  fimple  and 
perfeft ;  and  even  capable  of  demonftration  : 
while  the  other,  made  up  of  very  difllmilar  mate- 
rials, and  borrowing  aid  from  without,  mull  needs 
have  fome  parts  of  unequal  flrength  with  the  reft ; 
and,  confequently,  lie  open  to  the  attacks  of  a 
willing  adverfary.  Befides,  the  internal  evidence 
is,  by  its  nature,  perpetuated  j  and  fo  fitted  for 
all  ages  and  occafions :  while  the  external,  by 
length  of  time,  weakens  and  decays.  For  the 
nature  and  genius  of  the  religion  defended  afford- 

VoL.  L  B  ins 


2  T^he  Divine  Legation         Book  I. 

ing  the  proofs  of  the  firft  kind,  thefe  materials  of 
defence  are  infeparable  from  its  exiftence  ♦,  and  fo- 
always  at  hand.  But  Time  may,  and  doth  efface 
memorials  independent  of  that  exiftence  ;  out  of 
which  the  external  evidence  is  compofed.  Whicli 
evidence  muft  therefore  become  more  and  more 
imperfe6t,  v/ithout  being  affedled  by  that  whim- 
fical  and  partial  calculation,  to  which  a  certain 
Scotchman"^  would  fubjeft  it''.  Nay,  of  fuch  ufe 
is  the  internal  evidence,  that,  even  the  very  beft 
of  the  external  cannot  fupport  itfelf  without  it  t 
for  when  (for  inftance)  the  iupernatural  fafts  done 
by  the  founders  of  our  holy  faith,  are  unqueftion- 
ably  verified  by  human  teftimony,  the  evidence 
of  their  divinity  will  not  follow  *till  the  nature  of 
that  dodirine  be  examined,  for  whofe  eftablilhment 
they  were  performed.  But  was  there  no  other 
benefit  arifmg  from  the  cultivation  of  the  internal 
evidence  than  the  gaining,  by  it,  a  more  perfe6t 
knowledge  of  revealed  religion  \  this,  fure,  would 
be  enough  to  engage  us  in  a  vigorous  profecutioa 
of  it.  That  this  is  one  of  its  fruits  I  need  not  tell 
fuch  as  are  acquainted  with  its  nature.  And  it  is  not 
v/ithout  occafion  I  take  notice  of  this  advantage  : 
for  who,  in  this  long  controverfy  between  us  and 
the  Deifts,  hath  not  applied  to  certain  advocates 
of  revelation,  what  was  formerly  faid  of  Arnohim 
and  La£fantiiis,  that  they  undertook  the  defence  of 
Chrifiianity  before  they  underjloodit  ?  A  misfortune 

^  Craig.  Theologia  Chrrjf.  Pri?!Ctpia  Mathematica  ^  LcKdon 
X69Q.  4'°. 

'^  This  gradual  weakening  of  the  external  evidence  hath  In 
faft  aftually  happened ;  and  was  occafioned  by  the  lofs  of 
feveral  ancient  tellimonies  both  Pagan  and  Chrillian,  for  the 
truth  of  Revelation  ;  which  learned  men,  on  feveral  occafions, 
have  frequently  lamented.  This  is  the  only  way,  Ifuppofe, 
the  external  e^ndence  can  weaken. 

I  which 


Sed.   I.       ofM.os'E.sdemonJlrated.  3 

v/hich  probably  the  more  careful  fludy  of  the  inter^ 
nal  evidence  would  have  prevented ;  becaufe  no 
one,  well  verfed  in  tbfJ^  could  have  continued 
ignorant  of  fo  important  a  principle,  as  that  the 

DOCTRINE  OF  REDEMPTION  IS  OF  THE  VERY 

ESSENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  Notwithflanding 
thefe  fuperior  advantages,  it  hath  fo  happened, 
that  the  internal  evidence  hath  been  hitherto  ufcd. 
as  an  introduction  only  to  the  external:  and  while 
by  the  latter,  men  have  proved  our  religion  a6lu- 
ally  divine,  they  have  gone  no  further  with  the 
former,  than  to  fhew  it  worthy  indeed  of  fuch 
original. 

What  may  have  occafioned  this  neglect,  is 
not  fo  eafy  to  iay.  Perhaps  it  was  becaufe 
writers  have,  in  general,  imagined  that  the  dif- 
ficulties of  profecuting  the  internal  method  to 
effect,  are  not  fo  eafily  furmounted  as  thofe  which 
attend  the  other  •,  while  they  fiippofe  that  the 
writer  on  the  external  evidence  hath  only  need 
oftheufuai  provifion  of  church-hiftory,  common 
diligence,  and  judgment,  to  be  mafter  of  his  fub- 
je(5t  :  but  that  the  reafoner  on  the  internal  proof, 
muft,  befides  thefe,  have  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  human  nature,  civil  policy,  the  univerfal 
hiftory  of  mankind,  an  exaft  idea  of  the  mofaic 
and  ckrijlian  difpenfations  cleared  from  the  froth 
and  grounds  of  fchool-fubtilties,  and  church- 
fytlems ;  and,  above  all,  fhould  be  bleffed  with  a 
certain  fagacity,  to  inveftigate  the  relations  ot 
human  actions,  through  all  the  combinations  ot 
natural,  civil,  and  moral  complexities.  What 
may  fugged  this  opinion  is,  the  reflefting, 
that,  in  the  external  evidence,  each  circumftance, 
that  makes  for  the  truth  of  revealed  religion,  is 
feen  to  do  fo,  as  foon  as  known  :  fo  that  the  chief 
labour,  here,  is  to  fearch  and  pick  out  fuch,  and 
B  2  to 


4  ^he  Divine  Legation  Book  I* 

to  place  them  in  their  proper  light  and  fituation  ; 
but  that,  in  profecuting  the  internal  evidence,  the 
cafe  is  widely  different :  acircumftance  in  the  frame 
and  compofition  of  this  religion,  that  perhaps,  fomc 
time  or  other,  may  be  difcovered  to  be  a  demon- 
flration  of  its  divinity,  fhall  be  fo  far  from  being 
generally  thought  affifting  in  its  proof,  that  it 
Ihall  be  efteemed,  by  moft,  a  prejudice  againft  it : 
as  I  fuppofe  the  fubjeft  of  the  following  difcourfc 
will  afford  a  remarkable inftance.  And  no  wonder, 
that  a  religion  of  divine  original,  conftituted  to 
ferve  many  admirable  ends  of  providence,  Ihould 
be  full  of  fuch  comphcated  m.yileries,  as  filled  the 
learned  apoftle  with  admiration.  On  the  other 
hand,  this  religion  being  for  the  ufe  of  man,  we 
need  not  defpair,  when  we  have  attained  a  proper 
knowledge  of  man's  nature,  and  the  dependencies 
thereon,  of  making  ftill  growing  difcoveries,  on 
the  internal  evidence,  of  the  divinity  of  its  original. 

Now,  tho'  all  this  may  be  true ;  and  that, 
confequently,  it  would  appear  a  childifh  arro- 
gance in  an  ordinary  writer,  after  having  feen 
the  difficulties  attending  this  method,  to  hope  to^ 
overcome  them,  by  the  qualities  here  faid  to  be 
required  ;  yet  no  modeft  fearcher  after  truth  need 
be  difcouraged.  For  there  are,  in  revealed  reli- 
gion, befides  thofe  interior  marks  of  truth,  above 
defcribed,  which  require  the  delicate  operation  of 
a  great  genius  and  mafter-workman  to  bring  out 
and  polilh,  others  alfo,  no  lefs  illuftrious,  but 
more  univocal  marks  of  truth,  that  God  hath 
been  pleafed  to  imprefs  upon  his  difpenfations  j 
which  require  no  great  qualities,  but  humility,  and 
love  of  truth,  in  him,  who  would  from  thence  at- 
tempt to  vindicate  the  ways  of  God  to  man. 

The  fubjeft  of  this  difcourfe  is  one  of  thofe  il- 
luftrious marks  •,  from  which,  the  difcoverer  claims 

no 


Sedl.  I.      ©/"M  o  s  E  s  demonfirated.  5 

no  merit  from  any  long,  learned,  or  laborious 
fearch.  It  is  honour  enough  for  him  that  he  is  the 
firft  who  brings  it  out  to  cbfervation  •,  if  he  be  in- 
deed the  firft.  For  the  demonftration  is  fo  flrong 
and  beautiful,  and,  at  the  fame  time,  appears  to 
be  fo  eafy  and  fimple,  that  one  cannot  tell  whether 
the  pleafure  of  the  difcovery,  or  the  wonder  that 
it  is  now  to  make,  be  the  greater. 

The  title  of  this  difcourfe  tells  my  reader,  that 
I  undertake  to  prove  the  divine  legation  of  Mofcs, 
from  the  omifllon  of  the  dc6lrine  of  a  future  ftatc 
of  rewards  and  punifliments,  in  the  laws  and  reli- 
gion he  delivered  to  the  jewijh  people.  In  which 
I  pretend  to  carry  the  internal  evidence  much  fur- 
ther than  ufual  \  even  to  the  height  of  which  it  is 
capable,  m^oral  demonflration. 

Why  I  chufe  to  make  the  defence  of  Mofes  the 
fubjeft  of  this  difcourfe,  is  the  obferving  a  notion 
to  have  fpread  very  much  of  late,  even  amongft 
many  who  would  be  thought  Chrijlians,  that  the 
truth  of  Chriftianity  is  independent  of  the  jewijh 
difpenfation  :  a  notion,  that  was,  'till  now,  pecu- 
liar to  the  Socinians ;  who  go  fo  far  as  to  maintain'', 
that  the  knowledge  of  the  old  T'ejiament  is  not  abfo- 
lutely  necejfary  for  Chriftians  :  and,  that  thofe  who 
profefs  to  think  more  foberly,  are  generally  gone 
into  an  opinion  that  the  truth  of  the  jewiflj  reli- 
gion is  impofiible  to  be  proved  but  upon  the  truth 
of  the  chrijiian.  As  to  the  firft  fort  of  people,  if 
they  really  imagine  Chriftianity  hath  no  dependence 
on  Judaifm,  they  deferve  our  compaftion,  as  be- 
ing plainly  ignorant  of  the  very  elem.ents  of  the 
religion  they  profefs ;  however  fuitable  the  opinion 
may  be  to  a  modern  faftiionable  notion,  that 
ChriJIianity  is  only  the  republication  of  the  religion  of 

•>  Cuper,  adverf.  Traa.  Theol.  Polit.  lib  i. 

B  3  Nature, 


6  72v  Divhte  Legation        Book  T. 

Nature.  As  for  the  ether ^  it  is  reafonable  to  think, 
they  fell  into  the  miftake  from  a  view  of  difficul- 
ties, in  the  jewijh  difpenfation,  they  judged  too 
weighty  to  be  removed.  I  may  pretend  then  to 
their  thanks,  if  I  fucceed,  by  coming  fo  feafon- 
ably  to  their  reliet  ^  and  freeing  their  reafonings 
from  a  vicious  circle,  that  would  iirft  prove  the 
chrifiian  by  the  jewifi  j  and  then  t\it  jewijlo^  by 
the  chrijlian  religion. 

Why  1  chufe  this  medium,  namely,  the  omijfion  of 
a  future  Jlate  in  the  jewifh  difpenfation^  to  prove 
its  divine  original,  is,  Firfi^  tor  the  fake  of  the 
Deists:  being  enabled  hereby  to  fliew  them, 
I.  That  this  very  circumftance  of  omiffion,  which 
they  pretend  to  be  fuch  an  imperfeftion,  as  makes 
the  difpenfation  unworthy  the  author  to  whom  we 
afcribe  it,  is,  in  truth,  a  demonftration  that  God 
only  could  give  it.  2.  That  thofc  fiiveral  impor- 
tant pafTages  of  Scripture,  which  they  charge  with 
obfcurity,  injuftice,  and  contraditlion,  are,  "in- 
deed, full  of  light,  equity,  and  agreement.  3.  That 
their  high  notions  of  the  antiquity  of  the  religion, 
and  learning  of  the  Mgypians^  which  they  incef- 
fantly  produce,  as  their  ■palmary  argume?it^  to  con- 
front and  overturn  the  hiftory  of  Mofes^  do,  in  an 
invincible  manner,  confirm  and  fupport  it. 

Secondly^  For  the  fake  of  the  Jews  ;  who  will, 
at  the  fame  time,  be  fhewn,  that  the  nature  of  the 
Theocracy  here  delivered,  and  the  omifiion  of  the 
doftrine  of  a  future  flate  in  that  difpenfation,  evi- 
dently obliges  them  to  look  for  a  more  perfcft  re- 
velation of  God's  will. 

"Thirdly^  For  the  fake  of  the  Socinians  ;  who 
will  find,  that  Chrifilanity  agrees  neither  with  it- 
felf,  nor  with  Judaifm  •,  neither  with  the  difpen- 
iations  of  God,  nor  the  declared  purpofe   of  his 

fon's 


Sed.  I.      ^  M  o  s  E  s   demonjirated.  j 

fon's  miflion,  on  their  principle,  of  it's  being  only 
a  republication  of  the  religion  of  Nature. 

In  this  demonftration,  then,  which  we  fuppofe 
very  Uttle  Iliort  of  mathematical  certainty,  and 
to  which  nothing  but  a  mere  phyfical  polTibiliy 
of  the  contrary,  can  be  oppofed,  we  demand  only 
this  fmgle  pojlulatum^  that  hath  all  the  clearnefs  of 
felf-evidence ;  namely, 

"  That  afkilful  lawgiver,  eftablilhing  a  religion,, 
"  and  civil  policy,  acts  with  certain  views,, 
"  and  for  certain  ends  •,  and  not  capricioufly, 
"  or  without  purpofeor  defign." 

This  being  granted,  we  ered  our  demonftration 
on  thefe  three  very  clear  and  fimple  proportions  : 

1.  "  That  the  inculcating  the  doctrine 

*'  OF    A    future      state     OF    REWARDS     AND 

"  punishments,      is    necessary    to    the 
"  well  being  of  civil  society. 

2.  "  That  all  mankind,  especially  the 
"  most  wise  and  learned  nations  of 
"  antiquity,  have  concurred  in  be- 
"  lieving  and  teaching,  that  this  doc- 
"  trine  was  of  such  use  to  civil   socie- 

"  TY. 

3.  "  That  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state 
"of  rewards  and  punishments  is  not 
"to  be  found    in,     nor  did  make  part 

*'OF,    THE    mosaic    DISPENSATION. 

Propofitions  fo  clear  and  evident,  that  one  would 
think,  we  might  diredly  proceed  to  our  con- 
clufion. 


B  4  That 


8  The  Divine  Legation  Book  I. 

That  therefore  the  law  of  Moses  is  of 
DIVINE  ORIGINAL.  Which,  onc  or  both  of  the 
two  following  SYLLOGISMS  will  evince. 

I.  Whatfoever  religion  and  fociety  have  no  future 
Hate  for  their  fupport,  mufi:  be  fupported  by  an 
extraordinary  providence : 
The  Jewijh  religion  and  fociety  had  no  future 

ftate  for  their  fupport : 
Therefore,  the  Jewijh  religion  and  fociety  were 
fupported  by  an  extraordinary  providence. 

And  again,  II.  The  ancient  lawgivers  univerfklly 
believed  that  fuch  a  religion  could  be  fupported 
only  by  an  extraordinary  providence. 
Moses,  who  inftituted  fuch  a  rehgion,  was  an 

ancient  lawgiver. 
Therefore,  Mofes  believed  his  religion  was  fup- 
ported by  an  extraordinary  providence. 

But  fo  great  is  man's  love  to  paradox  and  sy- 
stem, thatthefe,  with  all  their  evidence,  had  need 
of  a  very  particular  defence  •,  Libertines  and  Unbe- 
lievers having  denied  the   major  proportions  of 
both  thefe  Syllogifms  ;  and  many  Bigots  amongft  be- 
lievers, the  minor  of  the  firft.     For  thofe  paffions 
however  different  with  regard  to  the  objefts  that 
excite  them,  and  to  the  fubjefls  in  which  they  are 
found,  have  this  in  common,  that  they  never  rife 
but  on  the  ruins  of  reafon.     The  bufinefs  of  the 
Religionift  being  to  eftablilh,  if  his  underltanding 
be  narrowed,  he  contrafts  himfelf  into  fyftem  :  and 
that  of  the  Infidel,  to  overturn  •,  if  his  will  be  de- 
praved, he,  as  naturally,  runs  out  into  paradoxes. 
Slavifh,  or  licentious  thinking,  the  two  extremes  of 
free  enquiry,   fhuts  them  up  from  all  inftrudlive 
views,  or  makes  them  fly  out  beyond  all  reafonable 
limits.    And  as  extremes  fall  eafily  into  one  an- 
other^ 


Sed.  2.       ^  M  o  s  E  s  demonjl rated.  9 

other,  wefometimesfeethe  oppofite  writers  change 
hands  :  the  Infidel,  to  fliew  fomething  hke  cohe- 
rence in  his  paradoxes,  reprefents  them  as  the 
feveral  parts  of  a  j(v/?f;;? ;  and  theKeligionift,  to 
give  a  relifh  to  his  lyftem,  powders  it  with  para- 
doxes :  in  which  arts  two  late  Hihermans\  the  he- 
roes of  their  feveral  parties,  were  very  notably 
pradlifed  and  diftinguifhed. 

It  was  not  long  then  before  I  found,  that  the 
difcovery  of  this  important  truth  would  ingage 
me  in  a  full  dilucidation  ot  xhtpremifes  of  the  two 
Syllogifms:  the  major  of  both  requiring  a  fevere 
fearch  into  the  civil  policy,  religion,  and  philo- 
fophy  of  ancient  times  ;  and  the  minor^  a  detail- 
ed explanation  of  the  nature  and  genius  of  the 
jewijh  difpenfation.  The  prefent  volume  is  deflined 
to  the  firft  part  of  this  labour ;  and  the  fol- 
lowing, to  the  fecond.  Where,  in  removing  the 
objedlions  on  both  fides,  which  lie  in  our  way,  we 
fhall  be  obliged  to  ftretch  our  inquiries  high  and 
wide.  But  this,  always,  with  an  eye  to  the  di- 
redlion  of  our  great  mafter  of  reafon*^,  to  endeavour^ 
throughout  the  body  ofthis'difcourfe^  that  every  for- 
mer  part  may  give  jirength  unto  all  that  follow^  and 
every  latter  bring  fome  light  unto  all  before. 

SECT.    II. 

Ou  R  .firfl  propofition,  that  the  incul- 
cating THE  DOCTRINE  OF  A  FUTURE 
STATE  OF  REWARDS  AND  PUNISHMENTS  IS  NE- 
CESSARY TO  THE  WELL  BEING  OF  CIVIL  SOCI- 
ETY, I  fhall  endeavour  to  prove,  from  the  nature 
of  man,  and  the  genius  of  civil  fociety. 

*  See  the  difcourfe  called  Nazarenns — AnEpiflolary  Difcourfe 
concernitig  the  Immortality  of  the  SouL — Dijfertationes  Cypria- 
tiUaf  isc.  ^Hooker, 

The 


lo  ^he  Divine  Legation       Book  I, 

The  appetite  of  felf-preferyation  being  moft  in- 
difpenfably  neceffary  to  every  animal,  nature  hatii 
made  it  the  ftrongeft  of  all.  And  though,  in  ra- 
tional animals,  reafon  alone  might  be  fuppofed 
fufRcient  to  anfwer  the  end,  for  which  this  appe- 
tite is  bellowed  on  others,  yet,  the  better  to  fecurc 
that  end,  nature  hath  given  man,  likewife,  a  very 
confiderablc  fhare  of  the  fame  inllinft,  with  which 
Ihe  hath  endowed  brutes  fo  admirably  to  provide 
for  their  prefervation.  Now  whether  it  was  Ibmc 
plajiic  nature  that  was  here  in  fault,  which 
Bacon  fays,  knows  not  how  to  keep  a  mean  s, 
or,  that  it  was  all  owing  to  the  perverfe  ufe  of 
human  liberty,  certain  it  is,  that,  borne  away  with 
the  lull  of  gratifying  this  appetite,  man,  in  a  ftate 
of  nature,  foon  ran  into  very  violent  excefles  j  and 
never  thought  he  had  fufficiently  provided  for  his 
own  being,  till  he  had  deprived  his  fellows  of  the 
free  enjoyment  of  theirs.  Hence,  all  thofe  evils 
of  mutual  violence,  rapine,  and  flaughter,  that,  in 
a  ftate  of  nature,  muft  needs  abound  amongft 
equals.  Becaufe,  tho'  man,  in  this  ftate,  was  not 
without  a  law,  which  exaded  punifhment  on  evil 
doers,  yet,  the  adminiftration  of  that  law  not  be- 
ing in  common  hands,  but  either  in  the  perfon 
offended,  who  being  a  party  would  be  apt  to  in- 
force  the  punifliment  to  excefs ;  or  elfe  in  the  hands 
of  every  one,  as  the  offence  was  againft  mankind 
in  general,  and  aftefted  the  good  of  particulars 
not  immediately  or  diredly,  would  be  executed 
remifly.  And  very  often,  where  both  thefe 
executors  of  the  law  of  nature  were  difpofed  to  be 
impartial  andexad:  in  the  adminiftration  of  juftice, 
they  would  yet  want  power  to  enforce  it.  Which 
together,  would  fo  much  inflame  the  evils  above 

s  Modum  tenere  nefcia  efta    Mgm.  Sdea. 

mentioned^ 


Bed:.  2.       c/"  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrated.  i  r 

mentioned,  that  they  would  foon  become  as  gene- 
ral, and  as  intolerable,  as  the  Hohbeifis  reprefent 
them  in  that  ftate  to  be,  were  it  not  for  the  re- 
ftraining  principle  of  religion,  that  kept  men 
from  running  altogether,  into  the  confufion  necef- 
farily  confequent  on  the  principle  of  inordinate 
felf-love.  But  yet  religion  could  not  operate  with 
fufficienc  efficacy,  for  v/ant,  as  we  obferved  before, 
of  a  common  arbiter,  who  had  impartiality  enough 
fairly  to  apply  the  rule  of  right,  and  power  to  en- 
force its  operations.  Sothatthefe  two  principles 
were  in  endlefs  jar;  in  which,  jufiice  generally 
came  by  the  word.  It  was  therefore  found  neceffary 
to  call  in  the  civil  magistrate,  as  the  ally  of 
religion^  to  turn  the  balance. 

'Jura  invent  a  metu  injujii  fateare  necejfe  cji^ 
T'empora  Ji  fajtofqiie  veils  evolvere  miindi. 

Thus  yNz.s  fociety  invented  for  a  remedy  againft 
injuftice ;  and  a  magifirate^  by  mutual  confent, 
appointed,  to  give  a  fan6lion  "  to  that  common 
"  meafure,  to  which,  reafon  teaches  us,  that  crea- 
"  tures  of  the  fame  rank  and  fpecies,  promifcuoufly 
"  born  to  the  fame  advantages  of  nature  and  to 
"  the  ufe  of  the  fame  faculties,  have  all  an  equal 
"  right*^."  Where  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  though 
fociety  provides  for  all  thofe  conveniences  and  ac- 
commodations of  a  more  elegant  life,  which  man 
mufb  have  been  content  to  have  done  without,  in  a 
ftate  of  nature;  yet  it  is  more  than  probable  that 
thefe  were  never  thought  of  when  fociety  was  firft 
eftablifhed ' ;  butthatthey  were  the  mutual  violences 
and  injuftices,  at  length  become  intolerable,  that  fee 

^  Locke. 

'  Though  the  judicious  Hooker  thinks  thofe  advantageswere 
principally  intended,  when  man  firft  entred  into  fociety  :  this 
nvaj  the  caufe,  fays  he,  of  mem  uniting  thtmfel'ves  at  fir  ft  into 

men 


12  ^he  Divine  Legation  Book  I. 

men  upon  contriving  this  generous  remedy  :  Be- 
caufe  evil  felt  hath  a  much  ftronger  influence  on 
the  mind  than  good  imagined  ;  and  the  means  of 
removing  the  one  is  much  eafier  difcovered,  than 
the  way  to  procure  the  other.  And  this,  by  the 
wife  difpofition  of  nature  •,  the  avoiding  evil  be- 
ing neceflary  to  our  exiltence ;  not  fo,  the  pro- 
curing pleafure.  Befides,  the  idea  of  thofe  unex- 
perienced conveniences  would  be,  at  beft,  very 
obfcure :  and  how  unable  men  would  be,  before 
trial,  to  judge  that  fociety  could  beftow  them,  we 
may  guefs  by  obferving,  how  little,  even  now, 
the  generality  of  men,  who  enjoy,  thofe  bleffings, 
know  or  refieft  that  they  are  owing  to  fociety,  or 
how  it  procures  them  ;  becaufe  it  doth  it  neither 
immediately  nor  direftly.  But  they  v>^ould  have 
a  very  lively  fenfe  of  evils  felt  •,  and  would  know 
that  fociety  was  the  remedy,  becaufe  the  very  de- 
finition of  the  word  would  teach  them  how  it  be- 
comes fo.  Yet  becaufe  civil  fociety  fo  greatly  im- 
proves human  hfe,  this  improvement  may  be  called, 
and  not  unaptly,  the  fecondary  end  of  that  conven- 
tion. Thus,  as  Arijtotk  accurately  obferves,  in 
the  words  quoted  above,  that  which  was  at  firft 
conftituted  for  the  fake  of  livings  is  carried  on 
for  the  fake  of  happy  living. 

This  is  further  feen  from  fa6b.     For  we  find 
ihofe  favage  nations'',  which  happen  to  live  peace- 

foUtique  focieties.  Eccl.  Po/A.  J,  ^  10.  His  mafter  ^r//?(5//i?, 
though  extremely  concife,  feems  to  hint,  that  this  was  but  the 
fecondary  end  of  civil  fociety,  and  that  That  was  the  firft, 
which  we  make  to  be  fo.  His  words  are  :  yivc(^/jri  [ji,h  av  tb 
^ijv  'ivtxiv,  Haa.  3  ts  60  i!r,v.  Pol.  lib.  i.  cap.  2. 
'  ^  See  §.  V.  iv.  2.  where  we  have  ftiewn,  how  it  might  hap- 
pen that  men,  in  a  ftate  of  nature,  fliould  live  together  in 
peace :  though  we  have  there  given  the  reafons  why  (in  faft) 
they  very  rarely  do. 


Sed".  2.       of  Moses  demonftrated,  13 

ably  out  offociety,  have  never  once  entertained  a 
thought  of  coming  into  it,  though  they  perceive 
all  the  advantages  of  that  improved  condition, 
in  their  civilized  neighbours,  round  about 
them. 

Civil  fociety  thus  ellabliflied,  from  this  time,  as 
the  poet  fings, 

abftftere  hello^ 
Oppida  cceperunt  munire,  &  pojiere  leges, 
Ne  (litis  fur  ejfet,  neu  latro,  neu  quis  adulter. 

But  as  before  bare  religion  was  no  prefervative 
againft  moral  diforders  •,  fo  now,  society  alone, 
v/ould  be  equally  infufficient. 

1.  I.  For/r/?,  its  laws  can  have  no  further  effi- 
cacy than  to  reftrain  men  from  open  tranfgreflion  ; 
while  what  is  done  amifs  in  private,  though  equally 
tending  to  the  public  prejudice,  efcapes  their  cen- 
fure  i  and  man,  fince  his  entering  into  fociety, 
would  have  greatly  improved  his  pra6lice  in  this 
fecret  way  of  malice.  For  now  an  effeftual  fecu- 
rity  being  provided  againft  open  violence^  and  the 
inordinate  principle  of  felf-love  being  ftill  the  fame, 
fecret  craft  was  the  art  to  be  improved  •,  and  the 
guards  of  fociety  inviting  men  to  acarelefs  fecurity, 
what  advantages  it  would  afford  to  thofe'  hidden 
mifchiefs  which  civil  laws  could  nor  take  notice  of, 
is  eafy  to  conceive. 

2.  But,  fecondly,  the  influence  of  civil  laws 
cannot,  in  all  cafes,  be  extended  even  thus  far, 
namely,  to  the  reftraining  open  tranfgreflion.  Ic 
cannot  theUy  when  the  fevere  prohibition  of  one 
irregularity  threatens  the  bringing  on  a  greater : 
and  this  will  always  be  the  cafe  when  the  irregula- 
rity is  owing  to  the  violence  of  the  fenfual  paffions. 
Hence  it  hath  come  to  pafs,  that  no  great  and 

flourifhing 


14  ^he  'Divine  Legation        Book  L 

fiourifliing  community  could  ever  punilli  fornica- 
tion^  m  fuch  a  fort  as  its  ill  influence  on  fociety 
was  confeffed  to  deferve.  Becaufe  it  was  always 
found,  that  a  fevere  reilraint  of  this,  opened  the 
way  to  more  flagitious  lulls. 

3.  The  very  attention  of  civil  laws  to  their 
principal  objed;  occafions  a  further  inefEcacy  in 
their  operations.  To  underftand  this  we  mull  con- 
fider,  that  the  care  of  the  fliate  is  for  the  whole, 
under  which  individuals  are  confldered  but  in  the 
fecond  place,  as  acceflTaries  only  to  that  whole-, 
the  confequence  of  which  is,  that,  for  the  fake  of 
the  body's  welfare,  individuals  are  fometimes  left 
negle(fled  ;  which  happens  when  general^  rather 
than  particular  views  ingrofs  the  public  attention. 
Now  the  care  of  religion  is  for  particulars  i 
2ind.2i  whole  has  but  the  fecond  place  in  its  concern. 
But  this  is  only  touched  upon  to  fhew,  in  pafilng, 
the  natural  remedy  for  the  defe6ls  here  explaining. 

4.  But  this  was  not  all,  there  was  a  further  in- 
efflcacy  in  human  laws :  the  legiflature,  in  en- 
quiring into  the  mutual  duties  of  citizens,  arifing 
trom  their  equality  of  condition,  found  thofe  du- 
ties to  be  of  two  kinds :  the  firfl,  they  intituled 
the  duties  of  perfect  obligationj  ;  becaufe 
civil  laws  could  readily,  and  commodioufly,  and 
were,  of  necefiity,  required  to  enforce  their  obferv- 
ance.  The  other  they  called  the  duties  of  im- 
perfect OBLIGATION  ',  not,  that  morality  does 
not  as  flrongly  exad  them,  but  becaufe,  civil 
laws  could  not  conveniently  take  notice  of  them  -, 
and,  that  they  were  fuppofed  not  fo  immediately 
and  vitally  to  afi'edl  the  being  of  fociety.  Of  this 
latter  kind  are  gratitude^  hofpitality,  charity^  &c. 
concerning  fuch,  civil  laws,  for  thefe  reafons,  are 
generally  filent.  And  yet,  though  it  may  be  true,, 
that  thefe  duties,  which  human  laws  thus  over- 
look. 


Sed  2.       of  Most. s  demDnJlrated.  1 5 

look,  may  not  fo  diredly  afifed  fociety,  it  is 
very  certain,  that  their  violation  brings  as  fatal, 
though  not  lb  fvvift  deftrudtion  upon  it,  as  that  of 
the  duties  of  perfect  obligation.  A  very  compe- 
tent judge,  and  who  too  fpeaks  the  fentiment  of 
antiquity  in  this  matter,  liath  not  fcrupled  to  fay : 
*'  Ut  fcias  per  fe  expetendam  effe  grati  animi 
"  adfe£fionem,  per  fe  fugienda  res  eil  ingratum 
"  effe :  quoniam  nihil  reque  concordiam  humani 
"  generis  diflbciat  ac  diftrahit  quam  hoc  vitium''-" 

5.  But  ftill  further,  beiides  thefe  duties  both  of 
perfeci  and  imperfect  obligation  for  the  encouraging 
and  enforcing  of  which,  civil  fociety  was  in- 
vented ;  fociety  itfelf  begot  and  produced  a  new  fet 
of  duties^  which  are,  to  fpeak  in  the  mode  of  the 
legiilature,  of  imperfect  obligatiGn  :  the  firft  and 
principal  of  which  is  that  antiquated  forgotten 
virtue  called  the  love   of  our  country. 

6.  But  Iq/ily^  Society  not  only  introduced  a  new 
fet  of  duties,  but  likewife  increafed  and  inflamed, 
to  an  infinite  degree,  thofe  inordinate  appetites, 
for  whofe  corredlion  it  was  invented  and  introduced  : 
like  fome  kind  of  powerful  medicines,  that,  at  the 
very  time  they  are  working  a  cure,  heighten  the 
malignity  of  the  difeafe.  For  our  wants  increafe, 
in  proportion  as  the  arts  of  life  advance  and  grow 
perfed:.  But  in  proportion  to  our  wants,  fo  is  our 
uneafmefs;  —  to  our  uneafin-efs,  fo  our  endea- 
vours to  remove  it  —  to  our  endeavours,  fb  the 
v/eaknefs  of  human  rejiraint.  Hence  it  is  evident, 
that  in  a  ftate  of  nature,  where  little  is  confulted 
but  the  fupport  of  our  being,  our  wants  muft  be 
few,  and  our  appetites,  in  proportion,  weak  j  and 
that  in  civil  fociety,  where  the  arts  of  life  are  cul- 
tivated, our  wants  muft  be  many,  and  our  appe- 
tites, in  proportion,  ftrong. 

^  Seneca  de  Bene/,  lib.  iv.  cap.  1 8, 

II.  This 


i6  7fje  Divine  Legation       Book  I, 

II.  Thus  far  concerning  the  imperfeftion  of 
civil  fociety,  with  regard  to  the  adminiftration 
of  that  power  which  it  hath,  namely  of  punijfjing 
the  difobedient.  We  fhall  next  confider  its  much 
greater  imperfe6lion  with  regard  to  that  power 
which  it  wanteth  •,  namely  of  rewarding  the  obe- 
dient. 

The  two  great  fanftions  of  all  law  and  command 
are  reward  and  punishment.  Thefe  are  gene- 
rally called  the  two  hinges,  on  which  all  kinds  of 
government  turn.  And  fo  far  is  certain,  and  ap- 
parent to  the  common  fenfe  of  mankind,  that  what- 
ever laws  are  not  enforced  by  both  thefe  fand:ions, 
will  never  be  obferved  in  any  degree  fufficient  to 
carry  on  the  ends  of  government. 

Yet,  I  fhall  now  fhew,  from  the  original  con- 
ftitution  and  nature  of  civil  fociety,  that,  it  neither 
had,  nor  could  enforce,  the  sanction  of  re- 
ward. 

But,  to  avoid  miftakes,  I  defire  it  may  be  ob- 
ferved, that  by  reward,  muft  needs  here  be  meant, 
fuch  as  is  conferred  on  every  one  for  obeying  the  laws 
of  his  country  ;  not  fuch  as  is  beftowed  on  particu- 
lars, for  any  eminent  fervice  :  as  by  punifhment  we 
underftand  that  which  is  inflicted  on  every  one  for 
tranfgrejfing  the  laws  ;  not  that  which  is  impofed 
on  particulars,  for  neglefling  to  do  all  the  fervice 
in  their  power. 

I  make  no  doubt  but  this  will  be  called  a  para- 
dox ;  nothing  being  more  common  in  the  mouths 
of  politicians'",  than  that  the  fandlions  of  reward 
and  punifhment  are  the  two  pillars  of  civil  govern- 
ment),   and  all  the  modern  Utopias  and  ancient 

^  Neque  folum  ut  Solonis  diftum  ufurpem,  qui  &  fapientiffi- 
mus  fuit  ex  feptem,  &legum  fcriptor  folus  ex  feptem.  Is 
rempublicam  duabus  rebus  contineri  dixity  pramio  Cs"  pcend.  Cic. 

ad  Bruturo,  £p-  15. 

fyftems 


Sedi:.  2.     ^M  o  s  E  s  demonfij-ated,  \f 

fyflems  of  fpeculative  politics  deriving  the  whole 
vigour  of  their  laws  from  thefe  two  fources.  In 
fupport  then  of  my  affertion,  permit  me  to  inforce 
the  two  following  proportions : 

I.  That,  by  the  original  cofijlitution  oS.  zxv'A  go- 
vernment, the  fancSti'on  of  rewards  was  not  efta- 
blifhed. 

II.  That  by  the  nature  of  civil  government  they 
could  not  be  eftabliflied  by  it. 

I.  The  firft  proportion  I  prove  thus.  In  enter- 
ing into  fociety,  it  v,/as  fLipulated,  between  the 
magiftrate  and  people,  that  ■protcution  and  obedi- 
ence fhould  be  the  reciprocal  conditions  of  each 
other.  When,  therefore,  a  citizen  obeys  the 
Jaws,  that  debt  on  fociety  is  difcharged  by  the 
proteftion  it  affordeth  hirri.  But,  in  refpetfl  to 
difobedience,  the  proceeding  is  not  analogous  ; 
(though  proteftion,  as  the  condition  of  obedience, 
implies  the  withdrawing  of  it,  for  difobedience;) 
and  for  thefe  reafons  :  The  effect  of  v/ithdrawing 
protection  muft  be  either  expulfion  from  the 
fociety,  or  the  expofmg  the  offender  to  all  kind  of 
licence,  from  others,  in  it.  Society  could  not 
pradife  the  firft,  without  bringing  the  body  poli- 
tic into  a  confumption  \  nor  the  latter  without 
throwing  it  into  convulfions.  Befides,  the  firft 
is  no  punifhment  at  all,  but  by  accident  •,  it  being 
only  the  leaving  one  fociety  to  enter  into  another  : 
and  the  fecond  is  an  inadequate  punifliment  \  for 
though  all  obedience  be  the  fame,  and  fo  uniform 
prote^ion  a  proper  return  for  it,  yet  difobedienc^ 
being  of  various  kinds  and  degrees,  the  withdraw- 
ing protection,  in  this  latter  fenfe,  would  be  too 
great  a  punilhment  for  fome  crimes,  and  too  fmall 
for  others. 

This  being  the  cafe,  it  was  ftipulated  that  the 
tranfgrefTor  fhould  be  fiibjed  to  pecuniary  muldts, 

C  corporal 


1 8  ^he  Divitie  Legation        Book  L 

corporal  infliflion,  mutilation  of  members,  and 
capital  feverities.  Hence  arofe  the  flmftion,  and 
cnly  fan^iion  of  civil  laws  :  for,  that  protedion  is 
no  reward,  in  the  fenfe  that  thefe  are  punifhments, 
is  plain  from  hence,  that  the  one  is  of  the  effence 
of  fociety  itfelf -,  the  other  an  occafional  adjiinft. 
But  this  will  further  appear  by  confidering  the 
oppofite  to  prote6tion,.  which  is  expidfion^  or  ba- 
niihment;  for  this  is  the  natural  confequence  of 
withdrawing  proteftion.  Now  this,  as  we  faid, 
is  no  punifhment  but  by  accident :  and  fo  the 
ftate  underflood  it  \  as  we  may  colletl,  even  from 
their  manner  of  employing  it  as  a  punijhment  on 
offenders  :  for  banifhment  is  of  univerfal  ufe, 
with  other  punifliments,  in  all  focieties.  Now 
where  withdrawing  proteftion  is  inflided  as  a  pu- 
nifhment, the  praftice  of  all  ftates  hath  been  to 
retain  their  right  to  obedience  from  the  banifh- 
ed  member;  though,  according  to  the  nature  of 
the  thing  confidered  alone,  that  right  be  really 
difcharged  ;  obedience  and  protedlion,  as  we  ob- 
ferved,  being  reciprocal.  But  it  was  ■  neceffary 
all  ftates  fhould  adt  in  this  manner  when  they 
inflifted  exile  as  a  punifliment  •,  it  being  no  punifh- 
ment but  by  accident,  when  the  claim  to  fubjec- 
tion  was  remitted  with  it.  They  had  a  right  to 
aft  thus  j  becaufe  it  was  infli6led  on  an  offender ;. 
who  by  his  very  offence  had  forfeited  all  claim 
of  advantage  from  that  reciprocal  condition^. 

"  This  will  lead  us  to  determine  an  embaraffed  queftion 
long  difputed  amongft  writers  on  tlie  law  of  nature  and  nations  j. 
namely,  nvhether  a  ba?iijh\i  man  be  a  fubje£l  of  the  J^ ate  frotn 
nvhich  he  hath  heett  expelled?  Hobbs  and  P ufendo7-j  \iO\6m^  the 
negative  ;  and  7ully,  with  the  excellent  Lord  Chancellor  Hyde, 
the  affirmative.  The  former,  in  fupport  of  their  opinion,  fay, 
that  hy  the  very  aft  of  expulfion,  the  ftate  gives  up  and  re- 
nounces all  right  of  fubjeftion:  the  latter  only  appeal  to  the 
praftice  of  focieties ;  the  reafon  of  which  pvaftice,  as  here 
given,  feems  to  determine  the  queftion  in  their  favour, 

II.  The 


Sed.  2.     o/* Moses  detn:?illrated.  19 

II.  The  fecond  propofition  is,  that  by  the  na- 
ture of  civil  government,  the  fan^ion  of  rewards 
could  not  be  enforced  by  it :  My  reafon  is,  becaufe 
fociety  could  neither  diftinguilli  the  objeds  of  its 
favour;  nor  reward  them,  though  they  were  di- 
ftinguifhed. 

I,  Firft,  fociety  coidd  not  difiingtiifa  the  objects  of  its 
favour.  To  intiid:  punifhment,  there  is  no  need 
of  knowing  the  motives  of  the  offender;  but  judi- 
cially to  confer  reward  on  the  obedient,  there  is. 

All  that  civil  judicatures  do  in  punifhing  is 
to  find  whether  the  a6l  was  wilfully  committed. 
They  enquire  not  into  the  intention  or  motives 
any  further,  or  otherwife  than  as  they  are  the  marks 
of^  voluntary  a5i :  and  having  found  it  fo,  they 
concern  themfelves  no  more  v>'ith  the  man's  mo- 
tives or  principles  of  ading ;  but  punifh,  without 
fcruple,  in  confidence  of  the  offender's  demerit. 
And  this  v/ith  very  good  reafon ;  becaufe  no  one 
of  a  found  mind,  can  be  ignorant  of  the  principal 
offences  againft  right,  or  of  the  malignity  of  thofe 
offences,  but  by  fome  fottiHi  negligence  that  hatK 
hindered  his  information ;  or  fome  brutal  pafllon 
that  hath  prejudiced  his  judgment;  both  which 
are  highly  faulty,  and  deferve  civil  punifhment. 

It  is  otherwife  in  rev^arding  abftinence  from 
tranfgrelTion.  Here  the  motive  mufl  be  confider- 
ed :  becaufe  as  merely  doing  ill^  i.  e.  v/ithout  any 
particular  bad  motive,  deferves  puniHimenr,  a 
crime  in  the  cafe  of  wrong  judgment  being  ever 
neceffarily  inferred  ;  fo  merely  abfiainingfrcm  illy 
i.  e.  without  any  'particular  good  motive,  cannot, 
for  that  very  reafon,  have  any  merit. 

In  judicially  rewarding.^  therefore,  the  motives 
muft  be  known;  but  human  judicatures  cannot 
know  them  but  by  accident :  it  is  only  that  tribu- 
nal, which  fearches  the  heart,  that  can  penetrate 
C  2  thus 


2  0  '^be  Di'uine  Le,^ation         Book  I. 


i> 


thus  far.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  reward 
cannot^  properly^  he  the  fan5lion  of  human  laivs. 

If  it  Ihould  be  faid,  that  though  rewards  can'- 
not  be  equitably  adminiftred,  as  punifhments 
may,  yet,  nothing  hinders  but  that,  for  the  good 
of  fociety,  all  who  obferve  the  laws  be  rewarded, 
«s  all  who  tranfgrefs  the  laws  are  punifhed  ?  The 
anfwer  will  lead  us  to  the  proof  of  the  fecond  part 
of  this  proportion. 

2.  Thzx.  fociety  could  not  reward,  tho^  it  fhotiU 
difcover  the  ohjeBs  of  its  favour;  the  reafon  is, 
becaufe  no  fociety  can  ever  find  a  fund  fufficient  for 
that  purpofe,  without  raifing  it  on  the  people  as  a 
tax,  to  pay  it  back  to  them  as  a  reward. 

But  the  univerfal  pradlice  of  fociety  confirms  this 
reafoning,  and  is  explained  by  it  •,  the  fandlion 
oi punifhments  only  having,  in  all  ages  and  places, 
been  employed  to  fecure  the  obfervance  of  civil 
laws.  This  was  fo  remarkable  a  faft,  that  it  could 
not  efcape  the  notice  of  a  certain  admirable  wit 
and  fludious  obferver  of  men  and  manners;  who 
fpeaks  of  it  as  an  univerfal  defedt:  Although  we 
ufually  (fays  he)  call  reward  and  punifhment  the  two 
hinges,  upon  which  all  government  turns,  yet  I  could 
never  obferve  this  maxim  to  be  put  in  practice  by  any 
nation  except  that  of  hWYi^ux.'' .  Thus  he  intro- 
duceth  an  account  of  the  laws  and  cuftoms  of  an 
Utopian  conilitution  of  his  own  framing  ;  and, 
for  that  matter,  as  good,  perhaps,  as  any  of  the- 
reft :  and,  had  he  intended  it  as  a  fatire  againft  fuch 
chimerical  commonwealths,  nothing  could  have 
been  more  juft.  For  all  thefe  political  romancers, 
from  Plato  to  this  author,  make  civil  rewards 
and  punifhments  the  tvjo  hinges  of  government. 

I  have  often  wondered  what  it  was,  that  could 
lead  them  from  fad:,  and  univerfal  praftice,  in  fa- 

?  GtfUi'ver^i  Ttai'e/s,  vol.  i.  p.  97. 

fund  a- 


Se6l.2.         ofM  OSES  demonjlrated,  2 1 

fundamental  a  point.  But  without  doubt  it  was 
this,  the  defign  of  fuch  fort  of  writings  is  to  give 
a  perfed  pattern  of  civil  government ;  and  to  fup- 
ply  the  fancied  defedls  in  real  focieties.  The 
end  of  government  coming  firfl  under  confide- 
ration  •,  and  the  general  pradice  ot  fociety  feem- 
ing  to  declare  this  end  to  be  only,  what  in  truth  it 
is,  fecurity  to  our  temporal  liberty  and  property ; 
the  fimplicity  of  it  difpleafed,  and  the  plan  appear- 
ed defe6live.  They  imagined,  that,  by  enlarging 
the  bottom,  they  fhould  ennoble  the  ftrufture; 
and,  therefore,  formed  a  romantic  proje6l  of  mak- 
ing civil  fociety  ferve  for  all  the  good  purpofes  it 
was  even  accidentally  capable  of  producing.  And 
thus,  inflead  of  giving  us  a  true  pifture  of  govern- 
ment, they  jumbled  together  all  forts  of  focieties 
into  one  •,  and  confounded  the  religious^  the  lite- 
rary^ the  mercantile^  the  convivial^  with  the  civil. 
Whoever  reads  them  carefully,  if  indeed  they  be 
worth  reading  carefully,  will  find  that  the  errors 
they  abound  in  are  all  of  this  nature;  and  that  they 
arife  from  the  lofing,  or  never  having  had  a  true 
idea  of  the  fimple  plan  of  civil  government:  a 
circumftance  which,  as  we  have  fliewnelfewhere'^, 
hath  occafioned  many  wrong  judgments  concern- 
ing it.  No  wonder,  then,  that  this  miftake  con- 
cerning the  endoi  civil  fociety,  drew  after  it  others, 
concerning  the  means  ;  and  this,  amongft  the  reft, 
that  reward  was  one  ofthefan^ions  of  human  lazvs. 

On  the  v/hole  then,  it  appears,  that  civil  focie- 
ty hath  not,  in  itfelf,  the  fan£iion  of  rewards^  to 
fecure  the  obfervance  of  its  laws.  So  true,  in  this 
fenfe,  is    the   obfervation   of  St.  Paul,  that   the 

1>AW  WAS  NOT  MADE  FOR  THE  RIGHTEOUS,  BUT 
FOR  THE  UNRULY  AND  DISOBEDIENT. 

P  See  7be  Alliance  het'wefn  Church  and  State. 

C  3  But 


22  ^he  Dhlne  Legation  Book  I, 

But  it  being  evident,  that  the  joint  fandlions  of 
rewards  and  punifhments  are  but  juft  fuiHcient  to 
fecure  the  tolerable  obfervance  of  right  (the  com- 
mon falfe  opinion,  that  thefe  are  the  two  hinges 
of  government  arifing    from   that    evidence)   it 

follows,  that,  AS  RELIGION  ONLY  CAN  SUPPLY 
THE  SANCTION  OF  REWARDS,  WHICH  SOCIETY 
NEEDS,  AND  HATH  NOT;  RELIGION  IS  ABSO- 
LUTELY  NECESSARY   TO  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 

Thus,  on  the  whole  we  fee,  I.  That  fociety,  by- 
its  own  proper  power,  cannot  provide  tor  the  ob^ 
fervance  of  above  one  third  part  of  moral  duties  ; 
and  of  that  third  but  imperfeftly.  We  fee  like  wife, 
how,  by  the  peculiar  influence  of  its  nature,  it  en- 
larges the  duty  of  the  citizen,  at  the  fame  time 
that  it  leffens  ihis  natural  ability  to  perform  it. 

II.  We  fee  further,  which  is  a  thing  of  far  greats 
er  confequence,  that  fociety  totally  wants  one 
ofthofe  two  powers  which  are  owned  by  all  to 
be  theneceifary  hinges  on  which  government  turns, 
and  without  which  it  cannot  be  fupported. 

To  fupply  thefe  wants  and  imperfcdtions,  fome 
other  coadlive  power  mult  be  added,  that  hath  its  in- 
fluence on  the  mind  of  man ;  to  keep  fociety  from 
r^jnning  back  into  confufion.  But  there  is  no 
other  than  the  power  of  religion  ;  which, teach-^ 
ing  an  over-ruling  providence,  the  rewarder  of 
good  men,  and  the  punifher  of  ill,  can  oblige 
to  the  duties  o^  imperfe5i  obligation^  which  human 
laws  overlook :  and  teaching  alfo,  that  this  provi- 
dence is  omnifcient,  that  it  fees  the  moft  fecrec 
aftions  and  intentions  of  men,  and  hath  given 
laws  for  the  perfedting  their  nature,  will  oblige 
to  thofe  duties  o{  -perfect  obligation^  which  human 
laws  cannot  reach,  or  fufficiently  enforce. 

Thus  we  have  explained  in  general,  the  mutual 
aid  religion  and  civil  policy  lend  to  one  another : 

BOt 


Se<5l,  2.      ofyiQ^'s.%demonJlrated,  23 

r.ot  unlike  that  which  two  allies,  in  the  fame  quar- 
rel, may  reciprocally  receive  againft  a  common 
enemy :  While  one  party  is  clofely  prcfTed,  the 
other  comes  up  to  its  relief;  difcngages  the  firll  \ 
gives  it  time  to  rally,  and  repair  its  force:  By 
this  time  the  afTilHng  party  is  puflied  in  its  turn, 
and  needs  the  aid  ot  that  which  it  relieved  \  which 
is  now  at  hand  to  repay  the  obligation.  From 
henceforth  the  two  parties  ever  adl  in  conjunction; 
and,  by  that  means,  keep  the  common  enemy 
at  a  ftand. 

Having  thus  proved  the  fervice  of  religion  in 
general,  to  fociety  ;  and  ihewn  after  what  manner 
it  is  performed,  we  arc  enabled  to  proceed  to  the 
proof  of  the  prppofition  in  queftion :  For  by  what 
hath  been  faid,  it  appears  that  religion  does  this 
fervice  folely,  as  it  teaches  a  providence,  the  rewarder 
of  good  men,  and  the  punijloer  of  ill :  fo  that  though 
it  were  poflible,  as  I  think  it  is  'not  ^,  that  there 
could  be  fuch  a  thing  as  a  religion  not  founded, 
on  the  do6lrine  ot  a  providence ;  yet,  it  is  evi- 
dent, fuch  a  religion  would  be  of  no  manner  of 
fervice  to  fociety.  Whatfoever  therefore  is  necef- 
fary  for  the  fupport  of  this  doftrine  is  mediately 
neceflary  for  the  well-being  of  fociety.  Now  the 
doftrine  of  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  punifh- 
ments  is  abfolutely  and  indifpenfably  neceffary  for 
the  fupport  of  the  general  dodrine  of  providence, 
under  its  prefent  difpenfations  in  this  life;  as  wc 
Ihall  now  fhew. 

Religion  eftablilhing  a  providence,  the  rewarder 
of  virtue,  and  the  punifherof  vice,  men  naturally 
expedt  to  find  the  conftant  and  unequivocal  marks 
of  its  decifions.      But  the   hiftory  of  mankind, 

S  St.  Vaul  fuppofes  there  can  no  more  be  a  religion  without 
a  providence,  than  without  a  God  :  He  that  cojneth  to  God, 
muji  bclienje  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  a  renvarder  of  them  thai 
diligent ly/eek  him, 

C  4  nay 


24  ^^^  Divine  Legation  Book  I, 

nay  even  of  every  one's  own  neighbour- 
hood, would  foon  inform  the  mofl  indihgent  ob- 
ferver,  that  the  affairs  of  men  wear  a  form  of  great 
irregularity :  the  fcene,  that  ever  and  anon  pre- 
fents  itfelf,  being  of  diftreifed  virtue,  and  profpe- 
rous  wickednefs ;  which  unavoidably  brings  the 
embaraffed  religionifl  to  the  necefTity  of  giving  up 
his  belief,  or  finding  out  the  folution  of  thefe  un- 
toward appearances.  Flis  firft  reflexion  might 
perhaps  be  with  the  poet  ^: 

omnia  rebar 
Confiljo  firmata  Dei  •,  qui  lege  moveri 
Sidera,  qui  fruges  diverfo  tempore  nafcl,— . 
Sed  cum  res  hominum  tanta  caiigine  volvi, 
Adfpicerem,  lastofque  diu  fiorere  nocentes, 
Vexarique  pios,  rurfus  labefafta  cade  bat 
Religio. 
But  on  fecond  thoughts,  reafon,  that,  from   the 
admirable  frame   and   harmony   of  the  material 
imiverfe,  taught  him,  that  there  mull  needs  be  a, 
fiiperintending  providence,  to  infiiience  that  order 
which  all  its  parts  preferve  in  their  continued  revo- 
lutions, would  foon  inform  him  of  the  abfurdity  in 
fuppofing,  that  the  fame  care  did  not  extend  to 
man,  a  creature  of  a  far  nobler   nature  than  the 
moft   confiderable    of  inanimate    beings.      And 
therefore  human  affairs   not  being  difpenfed,  a.t 
prefent,    agreeably    to   that   fuperintendence,    he 
muft  conclude,  that  man  fhall  exift  after  death, 
to  be  brought  to  a  future  reckoning  in  another  life, 
where  all  accounts  will  be  fet  even,  and  all  the 
prefent   obfcurities  and  perplexities  in  the  ways 
of  providence  unfolded  and  explained.      From 
hence  religion  acquires  refiftlefs  force  and  fplendorj, 
and  rifes  on  a  folid  and  unfliaken  bafis '. 

«■  Claud.  s  Hear  an  unexceptionable  evidence  to  this 

whole  matter :  Et  quidem  (fays  the  fr^e-thinking  Lord  Herbert) 

Now 


Sed.  2.       of  Moses  demofi/irafed,  25 

Now  this  doftrine  of  a  future  state  being 
the  only  fupport  of  religion,  under  the  prefenc 
and  ordinary  difpenfations  of  providence,  we  con- 
clude, which  was  what  we  had  to  prove,  that  the 
iuculcating  this  do6lrine  zj  necessary  to  the  well- 
being  of  fociety. 

That  it  was  the  general  fentiment  of  mankind, 
we  fiiall  fee  hereafter;  when  it  will  be  fhewn, 
that  there  never  was,  in  any  time  or  place,  a 
civilized  people  (the  jewijh  only  excepted)  who 
did  not  found  their  religion  on  this  do6lrine,  as 
being  confcious  it  could  not  be  fuftained  without 
it.  And  as  for  the  neceffity  of  religion  itfelf  to 
fociety,  the  very  enemies  of  ail  religion  are  the 
loudeft  to  confefs  it :  For,  from  this  apparent 
truth,  the  atheiit  of  old  formed  his  famous  argu- 
ment againft  the  divine  original  of  religion;  which 
makes  fo  great  a  figure  in  the  common  fyftems 
ofinfideHty.  Here  then,  even  on  our  adverfary's 
confeffion,  we  might  reft  our  caufe;  but  that  we 
find  (fo  inconftant  and  perverfe  is  irreligion) 
fome  modern  apologifts  tor  atheifm  have  abandon- 
ed the  fyftem  of  their  predeceflbrs,  and  chofe 
rather  to  give  up  an  argiiment  againft  the  divine 
original  of  religion,  than  acknowledge  the  civil 

praemiun;  bonis,  &  fupplicluiji  malis,  vel  hac  ii;i  vita,  vel  ppft 
hanc  vitam  dari,  ftatuebant  Gentiles. — Nihil  mage  congruum 
naturae  divinae  efle  docuerant,  turn  philofophorum  turn  theo- 
logorum  Gentilium  prascipuorum  fchol^,  quam  ut  bona  bonis, 
mala  malis  remetiretur  Deus.  Csterum  quum  id  quoque  ccr- 
nerent,  quemadmodam  viri  boni  calamitatibus  miferiifque  op- 
preffiheicjacerent  ;  mali  improbique  e  contra  lautitiis  omnibus 
affluerent ;  certifiimis  ex  juftitia  bonitateque  divina  argumen- 
tis  deduftis,  bonis  poll  hanc  vifam  praemium  condignum,  malis 
pcsenamdaricredebant :  sECUs  EN  iM  si  esset,  null  am  ne- 

QUE    JUSTITliE    NEQJJE    BONITATIS   D  I  V  I  N  i^     RATIONEM 

CONSTARE    POSSE.     De  religione  Gentiliutftf    cap.  Pramiuiti 

ufe 


26  ^he  Divine  Legation        Book  I. 

life  of  it     Which  with  much  franknefs  and  con- 
fidence they  have  adventured  to  deny. 

Thefs  theretore  having  endeavoured  to  over- 
turn the  very  ground  we  go  upon,  in  proof  of 
our  propofition,  it  will  be  proper  to  examine 
their  pretenfions. 

SECT.  III. 

TH  E  three  great  advocates  for  this  paradox  arc  • 
commonly  reckoned  Pomponatius,  Car- 
dan, andBAYLEi  who  are  put  together,  without 
diftindlion :  Whereas  nothing  is  more  certain  than 
that,  although  Cardan  and  Bayle  indeed  defended 
it,  Pompo?iatius  was  of  a  very  different  opinion  : 
but  Bayle  had  entered  him  into  this  fervice ;  and 
fo  great  is  Bayle' s  authority,  that  no  body  per- 
ceived the  delufion.  It  will  be  but  juftice  then 
to  give  Pomponatius  a  fair  hearing,  and  let  him 
ipeak  for  himfelf. 

This  learned  Italian^  a  famous  Peripatetic  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  wroteatreatife'  to  prove  that, 
on  the  principles  of  ArifiotUy  it  could  not  be 
proved  that  the  foul  was  immortal :  But  the  do- 
tlrine  of  the  mortality  of  the  foul  being  generally 
thought  to  have  very  pernicious  confequences,  he 
conceived  it  lay  upon  him  to  fay  fomething  to 
that  objedlion.  In  his  xiii^^  chapter,  therefore, 
he  enumerates  thofe  confequences ;  and  in  the  xiv^^', 

^  De  Immortalitate  Jnimte,  printed  in  \2^^°  An.  1534.  ,1% 
is  of  him  chiefly  that  the  celebrated  Mekhior  Canus  feems 
to  fpeak,  in  the  following  words:  "  Audivimusltalos  quof- 
**  dam,  qui  fuis  &  Arijioteli  Sc  Averroi  tantum  temporis  dant, 
*'  quantum  facris  literis  ii,  qui  maximc  facra  doftrina  deledtan- 
*'  tur ;  tantum  vero  fidei,  quantum  Apoftolis  &  Evangeliftis 
*'  ii  qui  maxime  funt  in  Chrilli  doftrinam  religiofi.  Ex  quo 
"  nata  funt  in  Italia  peftifera  ilia  dogmata  ^e  mortalitate  animi, 
*'  &  divina  circa  res  humanas  improvidentia,  fi  verum  eft  quod 
*'dicitur.''    DeAriJ}.  diffHt.hx,De  locis.i:..  ^, 

gives 


% 


Sedt  3.       of  Moses  demonjl rated.  27 

gives  diftind  anfwers  to  each  of  them.  That 
which  fuppoieth  his  do6trine  to  afi'eft  lociety,  is 
expreffed  in  thefe  words  :  "  Obj.  2 .  In  the  fecond 
*'  place,  a  man  perfuaded  of  the  mortahty  of  the 
'*  foul  ought  in  no  cafe,  even  in  the  moft  urgent, 
"  to  prefer  death  to  life  :  Andfo,  fortitude,  which 
"  teaches  us  to  defpife  death,  and,  when  our 
"  country,  or  the  public  good  requires,  even 
"  to  chufe  it  would  be  no  more.  Nor  on  fuch 
"  principles  fhould  we  hazard  life  for  a  friend  :  on 
"  the  contrary,  we  fliould  commit  any  wick^d- 
«'  nefs  rather  than  undergo  the  lofs  of  it :  which  iis 
*'  contrary  to  what  Arifiotle  teaches  in  his  ethics'." 
His  reply  to  this,  in  the  following  chapter,  is  that 
virtue  requires  wejljould  die  for  our  country  or  our 
friends-,  and  that  virtue  is  never  fo  perfect  as  when 
it  brings  no  dower  with  it :  But  then  he  fubjoins, 
"  Philofophers,  and  the  learned,  only  know 
*' what  pieafures  the  praflice  of  virtue  can  pro - 
"  cure ;  and  what  mifery  attends  ignorance  and 
*'  vice: — but  men  not  underflanding  the  excel- 
*'  lence  of  virtue,  and  deformity  of  vice,  would 
"  commit  any  wickednefs  rather  than  fubmit  to 
*'  death :  to  bridle  therefore  their  unruly  appetites, 
^'  they  were  taught  to  be  influenced  by  hope  ot , 
*'  reward,  and  fear  of  punifiiment'"."  This  is 
enough  to  fhew  what  Pcnponatius  thought  of  the 

"  Secundo,  quia  flante  animi  humani  mortalitate,  homo  in 
nullo  cafu,  quantumcunque  urgentiffimo,  deberet  eligere  mor- 
tem :  &  fic  removeretur  fortitude,  quse  praecipit  contemnere 
jnortem,  &  quod  pro  patria  &  bono  publico  debemus  mortem 
eligere :  neque  pro  amico  deberemus  exponere  animam  no- 
ftram  ;  imo  quodcunque  fcelus  &  nefas  perpetrare  magis  qu  uu 
mortem  fubire  :  quod  eft  contra  Arift.  3  Ethic.  &  9  ejudem. 
P.  99. 

^  Soli  enim  philofophi  &  ftudiofi,  ut  dlcit  Arift.  6.  Ethic, 
fciunt  qu.antam  deledationem  generent  virtutes,  &  quantam 
miferiam  ignorantia  &  vitia.  —  Sed  quod  homines  non  cog- 
Rofcentes  excellentiaxn  virtutis  &  foeditatem  vitii,  omne  fcelus 

3  necelTity 


28  T^he  Divine  Legation       Book  L 

neceffity  of  religion  to  the  ftate.  He  gives  up 
fo  much  of  the  objeftion  as  urges  the  ill  confe- 
quence,  of  the  do6lrine  of  the  mortality,  on  man- 
kind in  general ;  but  in  fo  doing  doth  not  betray 
the  caufe  he  undertook  :  which  was  to  prove  that 
the  belief  of  the  mortality  of  the  foul  would  have 
no  ill  influence  on  the  praftice  of  a  learned  Peri- 
patetic :  not  that  it  would  have  no  ill  influence,  on 
the  grofs  body  of  mankind,  to  the  prejudice  of 
fociety.  This  appears  from  the  nature  and  defign 
of  the  treatife;  written  entirely  on  peripatetic 
principles,  to  explain  a  point  in  that  philolbphy  : 
by  which  explanation,  whoever  was  perfuaded 
of  the  mortality  of  the  foul,  muft  give  his  afient 
on  thofe  principles;  principles  only  fitted  to 
influence  learned  men.  It  was  his  bufinefs  there- 
fore to  examine,  what  eflfefts  this  belief  would 
have  on  fuch,  and  on  fuch  only.  And  this,  it 
muft  be  owned,  he  hath  done  with  dexterity 
enough.  But  that  this  belief  would  be  mofl:  per- 
nicious to  the  body  of  mankind  in  general,  he 
conrefl^es  with  the  utmoft  ingenuity.  And  as 
his  own  words  are  the  fuUefl:  proof  imaginable, 
that  he  thought  with  the  reft  of  the  world,  con- 
cerning the  influence  of  religion,  and  particularly 
of  the  dodrine  of  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  pu- 
nifhments,  on  fociety,  I  ftiall  beg  leave  to  tran- 
fcribe  them  at  length.  "  There  are  fome  men  of 
"  fo  ingenuous  and  well  framed  a  nature,  that  they 
"  are  brought  to  the  praftice  of  virtue  from  the 
*'  fole  confideration  of  its  dignity;  and  are  kept 
"  from  vice  on  the  bare  profped  of  its  bafenefs : 
"  but  fuch  excellent  perfons  are  very  rare.  Others 
*'  there  are  of  a  fome  what  lefs  heroic  turn  of  mind; 

perpetrarent,  priufquam  mori :  quare  ad  refrasnandum  diraa 
hominum  cupiditates^  data  ell  fpes  praemii  &  timor  punitionis. 
?.  119. 

*'  anq 


Sedi.  3.       o/"  M  o  s  E  s  dcmonjlrdted.  29 

»*  and  thefe,  befides  the  dignity  of  virtue,  and  the 
*'  bafenefs  of  vice,  are  worked  upon  by  fame  and 
"  honours,  by  infamy  and  difgnice,  to  fhun  evil 
"  and  perfevere  in  good :  Thefe  are  ot  the  fecond 
"  clafs  of  men.  Others  again  are  kept  in  order 
"  by  the  hope  of  fome  real  benefit,  or  the  dread 
**  of  corporal  punifhment-,  wherefore  that  fuch 
*'  may  follow  virtue,  the  politician  hath  allured 
"  them  by  dignities,  poffeffions,  and  things  of  the 
"  like  nature-,  and  hath  inflidled  mulfts,  degrada- 
"  tions,  mutilations,  and  capital  punilhments,  to 
"  deter  them  from  wickednefs.  There  are  yet 
"  others  of  fo  intradlable  and  perverfe  a  fpirit, 
"  that  nothing  of  this  can  move  them,  as  daily 
"  experience  fhews  us-,  for  thefe,  therefore,  it 
"  was,  that  the  politician  contrived  the  do5lrine  of 
**  a  future  fiat  e;  where  eternal  rewards  are  referved 
"  for  the  virtuous,  and  eternal  punifhments,  which 
*'  have  the  more  powerful  influence  of  the  two, 
*'  for  the  wicked.  For  the  greater  part  of  thofe 
"  who  live  well,  do  fo,  rather  for  fear  of  the  pu- 
"  nifliment,  than  out  of  appetite  to  the  reward  : 
"  for  mifery  is  better  known  to  man,  than  that 
"  immeafurable  good  which  religion  promifeth  : 
"  And  therefore  as  this  laft  contrivance  may  be 
"  direfled  to  promote  the  welfare  of  men  of  all 
*'  conditions  and  degrees,  the  legiQator,  intent 
"  upon  public  good,  and  feeing  a  general  propen- 
"  fity  to  evil,  eftablifhed  the  doftrine  of  the  im- 
"  mortality  of  the  foul.  Little  Ibhcitous  for 
*'  truth,  in  all  this,  but  intent  only  on  utility, 
"  that  he  might  draw  mankind  to  virtue.  Nor 
"  is  he  to  be  blamed  :  for  as  the  phyfician  deludes 
"  his  patient  in  order  to  reftore  his  health,  fo 
"  the  lawgiver  invents  apologues  to  form  the 
*'  manners  of  his  people.  Indeed  were  all  of  that 
*'  noble  turn  of  mind  with  thofe  en.umemed  under 

*'  the 


^o  ^he  Divine  Legation       Book  L 

"  the  firft  clafs,  then  would  they  all,  even  on 
«'  the  fuppofition  of  the  foul's  mortality,  exactly 
*••  perform  their  mutual  duties  to  one  another. 
"  But  as  there  are^  i4pon  the  matter^  none  of  this 
"  difpofition^  he  muft,  of  necelTity,  have  recourfe 
*'  to  arts",  more  fitted  to  the  general  difpofition." 

After  all  this,  it  is  furprizing  that  Mr.  Bayle 
Ihould  fo  far  miftake  this  book,  as  to  imagine 
the  author  argues  in  it  againft  the  ufefulnefs  of  re- 
ligion to  fociety :  efpecially,  when  we  confider  that 
Mr.  Bayle  appears  to  have  examined  the  book  fo 
nearly  as  to  be  able  to  confute  a  common  error 

"  AHqui  funt   homines   ingenui,  &   bene  inftituta?  natura?, 
adeo  quod  ad  virtutem  inducuntur  ex  fola  virtutis  nobilitate,  & 
a  vitio  retrahuntur  ex  fola  ejus  foeditate:   &  hi  optime  difpo- 
fiti  funt,  licet  perpauci  funt,     Aliqui  vero  funt  minus  bene  dif- 
pofiti ;  &  hi  praeter  nobilitatem  virtutis,  &  foeditatem  vitii,  ex 
prsemiis,  laudibus,  &  honoribus ;  ex  poenis,  vituperiis,  &  infa- 
mia,  ftudiofa  operantur,  &  vitia  fugiunt  j  &  hi  in   fecundo 
gradu  funt.     Aliqui  vero  propter  fpem  alicujus  boni,  &  timore 
poense  corporalis  lludioli   efficiuntur :  quare,  ut  tales  virtutem 
confequantur,    ftatuunt  politici  vel  aurum,    vel  dignitatem, 
velaliquidtale  ;  ut  vitia  vero  fugiant,  ftatuunt  vel  in  pecunia, 
vel  in  honore,  vel  in  corpore,  ieu  mutilando  membrum,  feu 
occidendo  puniri.     Quidam  vero  ex  ferocitate  &  perverfitate 
naturae,  nullo  horum  moventur,  ut  quotidiana  docet  experien- 
tia;  ideo  pofuerunt  virtuofis  in  alia  vita  prasmia  sterna,  vitiofis 
vero   sterna  damna,    quae  maxime  terrerent :  majorque  pars 
hominum,  fi  bonum  operatur,  magis  ex  metu  asterni  damni 
quam  fpe  sterni  boni  operatur  bonum,  cum  damna  funt  magis 
nobis  cognita  quam  ilia  bona  aeterna :  k  quoniam  hoc  ultimum 
ingenium  omnibus    hominibus   poteft  prodefle,    cujufcunque 
gradus  fint,  refpiciens  legiflator  pronitatem  viarum  ad  malum, 
intendens  communi   bono,    fanxit  animam   efi'e  immortalem, 
non  curans  de  veritate,  fed   tantum  de  probitate,  ut  inducat 
homines  ad  virtutem.     Neque  accufandus  eft  politicus :  iicut 
namquemedicus  multa  fingit,  ut  agro  fanitatem  reftituatj  fie 
politicus  apologos  format,  ut  cives  reftificet. — Si  omnes  homi- 
nes efi'ent  in  illo  primo  gradu  enumerate,  ftante  etiam  animo- 
rum  mortalitate,  ftudioft   fierent;   fed  quafi  nulli   funt  illius 
difpofitionis  j     quare  aliis  ingeniis  incedere  neceffe   fuit. — • 
Pag.  123,  124,  125. 

concerning 


Sed.  3-       c/ Moses  demonftrated.  31 

concerning  it,  namely,  that  it  was  wrote  to  prove 
the  mortality  of  the  foul :  Whereas  he  fhews,  that 
it  was  wrote  only  to  prove,  that,  on  the  principles 
of  Arijtotle^  neither  that,  nor  the  contrary,  could 
be  demonftrated.  But  let  us  hear  him:  "  That 
*'  which  Pomponatius  hath  replied  to  the  reafoning 
"  borrowed  from  hence,  that  the  dotftrine  of  the 
*'  mortality  of  the  foul  would  invite  men  to  all  fort 
*'  of  crimes,  deferves  to  be  confideredy."  And 
then  he  produces  thofe  arguments  of  Pomponatius^ 
which  we  have  given  above,  of  the  Jiatural  ex- 
cellence of  virtue^  and  deformity  of  vice  \  that  happi- 
nefs  conjifis  in  the  pra5iice  of  the  one,  and  mifery  in 
that  of  the  other ^  ^c.  Thefe  he  calls  poor  foliiti- 
ons :  Indeed  poor  enough,  had  it  been,  as  Mr. 
Bayle  fuppofes,  Pomponatius' s  defign  to  prove  that 
the  doctrine  of  the  mortality  of  the  foul  did  not  in- 
vite the  generality  of  men  to  wickednefs :  for  the 
account  given  by  Pomponatius  himfelf  of  the  ori- 
gin of  the  contrary  dodrine,  fhews,  that,  but  for 
it,  they  would  have  run  headlong  into  vice.  But 
fuppofmg  this  Peripatetic's  defign  to  be,  as  indeed 
it  was,  to  prove  that  the  dodtrine  of  the  mortality 
would  have  no  ill  influence  on  the  learned  followers 
of  Arifiotle^  then  thefe  arguments,  which  Mr. 
Bayle  calls  poor  ones^  will  be  found  to  have  their 
weight.  But  he  goes  on,  and  teJls  us,  that  Pom- 
ponatius brings  a  better  argument  from  fa3f^  where 
he  takes  notice  of  fever  al^  who  denied  the  i?mnortality 
cf  the  fouly  and  yet  lived  as  well  as  their  believing 
neighbours.  This  is  indeed  a  good  argument  to 
the  purpofe,  for  which  it  is  employed  by  Pompo- 
natius j  but  whether  it  be  fo  to  that,  for  which, 

y  Ce  que  Pomponace  a  repondu  a  la  raifon  empruntee  de  ce 
que  le  dogme  de  la  mortalite  de  I'anic  portcroit  les  honimes  a 
toutes  fortes  de  crimes,  eft  digne  de  confideration.  Did.  Hijl. 
^  CriL  Alt  (Pomponace)  Rem.  (H.) 

Mr. 


32  ^The  Dhihe  Legation  Bdok  li 

Mr.  Bayle  imagined,  he  employed  it,  fhall  ht 
confidered  hereafter,  when  we  come  to  meet  with 
it  again  in  this  writer's  apology  for  atheifm.  But 
Mr.  Bayle  was  fo  full  of  his  o^^f^Vi  favourite  qiiejimiy 
that  he  did  not  give  a  due  attention  to  Pom.pona- 
tius's ;  and  having,  as  I  obfervcd  above,  refuted 
a  vulgar  error  with  regard  to  this  famous  tra6f, 
and  imagining  that  the  impiety,  fo  generally 
charged  on  it,  was  folely  founded  in  that  error,  he 
goes  on  infulting  the  enemies  of  Pomponatius  iti 
this  manner :  "  If  the  charge  of  impiety,  of  which 
"  Pomponatius  hath  been  acculed,  was  only  found- 
"  ed  on  his  book  of  the  immortality  of  the  foul^  we 
"  muft  needs  fay  there  was  never  any  accufation 
''  more  impertinent  or  a  ftronger  inftance  of  the 
"  iniquitous  perverfity  of  the  perfecutors  of  the 
"  philofophers^."  But  Pomponatius  will  not  ht 
fo  eafily  fet  clear :  For  let  him  think  as  he  would 
concerning  the  foul,  yet  the  account  he  gives  of 
the  origin  of  religion,  as  the  contrivance  of  ftatef- 
men,  produced  above,  from  this  very  traftZ)^ 
immortalitate  anima^  is  fo  highly  impious,  that  his 
enemies  will  be  hardly  perfuaded  to  give  it  afofter 
name  than  downright  atheifm.  Nor  is  it  impiety 
in  general,  of  which,  we  endeavour  to  acquit  him, 
but  only  that  fpecies  of  it,  which  teaches  religion 
to  be  ufelefs  tofociety.  And  this  we  think  we  have 
done ;  although  it  be  by  fliewing  him  to  have 
run  into  the  oppofite  extreme,  which  pretends 
religion  to  be  the  creature  of  politicks , 

Cardan  comes  next  to  be  confidered  :  and  him 
no  body  hath  injured.  He,  too,  is  under  Bayle' s 
delufion,   concerning  Pomponatius:  For,  writing 


Si  Ton  n'a  fonde  les  impietez,  dont  on  Paccufe,  que  fur 
livre  dc  Pimmortalite  de  fame,  il  n'y  eut  jamais  d'accufation 


^Si 

fon  livre ,      ^^        _, 

plus  impertinente,  que  celle-la,  ni  qui  foit  une  marque  plus 
exprelle  de  rentetcment  iniquc  des  perfecuteurs  des  philofophes; 

on 


Sed.  3  k     o/*  M  o  s  E  s  demmiflrated,  33 

on  the  fame  rubject%  he  borrows  the  penpatetic*s 
arguments  to  prove  that  religion  was  even -pernicious 
to  fociety.  This  was  fo  bold  a  ftroke,  that  Mr. 
Bayle^  who  generally  follows  him  pretty  clofely, 
drops  him  here  :  Nor  do  I  know  that  he  ever  had 
a  fecond,  except  it  was  the  unhappy  philofopher 
oi  Malmjhury^  who  fcorning  to  argue  upon  the 
matter,  imperioufly  pronounced,  that  he  who  pre- 
fumed  to  propagate  religion  in  a  fociety,  was 
guilty  of  the  crime  of  Lefe  Majejiy,  as  introducing 
a  power  fuperior  to  the  Lcviathan^s.  But  it  v/ould 
be  unpardonable  to  keep  the  reader  much  longer 
on  this  poor  lunatic  Italian^  in  whom,  as  Mr.  Bayle 
pleafantly  obferves,  fenfe  was,  at  leji,  hut  an  appen- 
dix to  his  folly  ^.  Befides,  there  is  little  in  that 
trad,  but  what  he  ftole  from  Pomponatius-,  the 
conclufivenefs  of  which,  to  Cardaii's  paradox,  hath 
been  already  confidered ;  or  what  Mr.  Bayle  hath 
borrowed  from  him  •,  the  force  of  which  fliall  be 
examined  hereafter.  But  that  little  is  fo  peculiarly 
his  own,  that  as  no  other  can  claim  the  property, 
fo  no  one  hath  hitherto  ufurped  the  ufe.     Which. 

*  De  immortalitate  ayiimorum  lihet-y  Lugd.  ap.  Gryph.  I  54^. 

''The  charming  pidlure  he  draws  of  himfelf,  and  which  he 
cx'cufes  no  otherwife  than  by  laying  the  fault  on  his  liars,  will 
hardly  prejudice  any  one  in  favour  of  his  opinions.  How  far 
it  refembles  any  other  of  the  brotherhood,  they  bed  know, 
who  have  examined  the  genius  of  modern  infidelity.  However 
thus  he  fpeaks  of  his  own  amiable  turn  of  Mind  :  "  In  diem 
*' viventem,  nugacein,  religionis  contemptorem,  injuria  illatae 
*'  memorem,  invidum,  triftem,  infidiatorem,  proditorem,  ma- 
"  gum,  incantatorem,  fuorum  oforem,  turpi  libidini  deditum, 
"  folitarium,  inamcenum,  aufterum;  fponte  etiam  divinantem, 
**  zelotypum,  obfccenum,  lafcivum,  maledicum,  varium,  an- 
"  cipitem,  impurum,  calumniatorem,  &c."  We  have  had 
mzxiy  free-thinkers,  but  few  iachfree-fpeakers.  But  though  thefe 
fort  of  writers  are  not  ufed  to  give  us  fo  dire£l  a  pidure  of 
themfelves,  yet  it  has  been  obferved,  that  they  have  unawares 
copied  from  their  own  tempers,  in  the  ungracious  drawings 
they  have  made  of  HcM AN  Nature  and  Religion. 

Vol.  I.  D  yer^ 


34  'The  Di'Vine  Legatm  Book  I, 

yet,  however,  is  remarkable :  for  there  is  no  tralh 
fo  worthlefs,  but  what  fome  time  or  other  finds 
a  place  in  a  free-thinker's  fyflem.     We  will  not 
defpair  then  but  that  this  dirty  rubbifh  may  one 
day  have  an  honourable  ftation  in  fome  of  thefe 
falhiionable   fabricks.      And,    not  to  hinder   its 
fpeedy  advancement,  I  fhall  here  prefent  it   to 
the  reader,  in  its  full  force,  without  anfwer   or 
reply.      He   brings   the  following  argument  to 
prove  that  the  dcdrine  of  the  immortality  of  the 
foul  is  even  deftruftive  to  fociety :  "  From  this 
"  flattering  notion  of  a  future  ftate,  ill  men  get 
**  opportunity  to  compafs  their  wicked   fchemes  : 
*'  and,  on  the  fame  account,  good  men  fuffer  them- 
*'  felves  to  be  injurioufly  treated.      Civil   laws, 
"  relying  on  this   fanciful  afliftance,  relax  their 
"  neceflary  feverity ;  and  thus  is  the  opinion  pro- 
"  dudive  of  much  mifchief  to  mankind^"     And 
then,  by  another  argument  as  good,  he  fhews  the 
benefits  accruing  to  the  Hate  trom  the  belief  of 
the  foul's  mortality  :  "  Thofe  who  maintain  that 
"the  foul  dies  with  the  body,  muft  needs  be,  by 
*'  their  principles,  honefler  men  than  others,  be- 
"  caufe  they  have  a  peculiar  intereft  in  preferving 
*"'  their  reputation  ;  that  being  the  only  future  pro- 
*'  perty  they  pretend  to:  And  this prolefTion  being 
*"  generally  elteemed  as  fcandalous  as  that  of  ufury, 
"  fuch  men  will  be  mod  exad  and  fcrupulous  in 
*'  point  of  honour,  as  your  vifurer,  to  keep  up 
<^  the  credit  of  his  caHing,  is  of  all  men  the  moll 
*•'  reiieious  obferver  ofhis  word^." 


SECT.   IV. 

R.  B  AYLE,  the  laft  efpoufer  of  this  paradox, 
is  of  a  very  different  charader  from   thefe 

'  De  immartalitute  a/iimorum,  cap.  ii.  ^  Gap.  xxxiii, 

cjufd.  txaft. 

^  Italian 


M 


Sedt.  4»         ofVio^'E^  demonjlrated*  3^ 

Italian  fophifts:  A  writer,  who,  to  the  iitmofl 
ftrength  and  clearnefs  of  reafojiing,  hath  added  all 
the  livelinefs,  and  delicacy  of  wii :  who  perva- 
ding human  nature  at  his  cafe,  ftruck  into  the 
province  of  paradox,  as  an  exercife  for  the  un- 
wearied vigour  of  his  mind  :  who,  with  a  foul  fu- 
perior  to  the  fharpefl;  attacks  of  fortune,  and  a 
heart  praflifed  to  the  bcft  philofophy,  had  not  yet 
enough  of  real  greatnefs,  to  overcome  that  laft 
foible  of  fuperior  minds,  the  temptation  of  ho- 
nour, which  the  academic  exercife  of  wit  is  con- 
ceived to  bring  to  its  profelTors. 

A  writer  ot  this  charafter  will  deferve  a  parti- 
cular regard  :  For  paradoxes,  which  in  the  hands 
of  a  To/and  or  a  Collins  end  in  rank  ofFenfive  impie- 
ty, will,  under  the  management  pf  a  5^y^,  always 
afford  fomething  for  ufe  or  curiofity :  Thus,  in  the 
very  work  we  are  about  to  examine%  the  many 
admirable  obfervations  on  the  nature  and  genius  of 
polytheifm,  happen  to  be  a  full  anfwer  to  ail  which 
the  author  of  Cbrijiianity  as  old  as  the  creation 
hath  advanced  againft  the  ufe  of  revelation.  For 
as  a  fl<ilful  chemift,  though  difappointed  in  his 
grand  magifterium,  yet  often  difcovers,  by  the  way, 
fome  ufeful  and  noble  medicament  •,  fo  the  igno- 
rant pretender,  in  the  fame  art,  not  only  lofes  his 
labour,  but  fills  all  about  him  with  the  poifonous 
fteamiS  o{  fuhlimaie. 

The  profeffed  defign  of  Mr.  Bayle^s  work  is  to 
enquire,  which  is  leafi  hurtful  to  mankind,  ancient 
idolatry,  or  modern  atheifm :  ^  And  had  he  confined 
himfelf  to  that  fubjedt,  we  had  had  no  concern 
witji  him,  but  lliould  have  left  him  in  the  hands 

•  Penfees  diverfes,  ecrites  a  un  dofteur  de  Sorbonne  a  I'occa- 
fion  dela  comete  qui  parut  au  Mois  de  Decembre,  1 63o.  &— 
Continuation  des  Penlees  diverfes,  &c.  ou  Reponfe  a  plufieurs 
difficultez,  &c. 

D  2  of 


36  ^he  Divine  Legation        Book  t, 

of  Mefif.  Jacquelot  and  Bernard.  I  freely  own  they 
are  both  ftark  naught :  All  the  difference  is,  that 
atheifm  diredly  excludes  and  deftroys  the  true 
fenfe  of  moral  right  and  wrong  j  and  poly  theifni 
fets  up  Tifalfe  fpecies  of  it. 

But  the  more  particular,  though  lefs  avowed, 
purpofe  of  this  elaborate  treatife  is  to  prove,  that 
atheifm  is  not  dejlru5li'ue  of  fociety ;  and  here  he 
falls  under  our  notice ;  no  diftind;  anfwer,  that  I 
know  of,  having  been  yet  attempted  to  this  part 
of  his  performance. 

His  arguments  are  occafionally,  and  fo  without 
any  method,  interfperfed  throughout  that  large 
work :  But,  to  give  them  all  the  advantage  they 
are  capable  of,  I  have  here  colle6led  and  difpofed 
them  in  fuch  order,  that  they  mutually  fupport, 
and  come  in  to  the  aid  of  one  another. 

It  had  been  generally  efteemed  a  proof  of  the 
.  deftru6live  nature  of  atheifm  to  fociety,  that  that 
principle  excludes  the  knowledge  of  moral  good  and  evil-, 
fuch  knowledge  being,  as  will  be  feen,  pofterior 
to  the  knowledge  of  a  god.  His  firft  argument 
therefore  for  the  innocence  of  atheifm  is^ 

I.  "  That  an  atheift  may  have  an  idea  of  the 
*'  moral  difference  between  good  and  evil,  becaufe 
**  atheifts,  as  well  as  theifts,  may  comprehend  the 
*'  firft  principles  of  morals  and  metaphyfics,  from 
*'  which  this  difference  may  be  deduced.  And  in 
*'  fa(5l  (he  fays)  both  the  Epicurean  atheift,  who 
*'  denied  the  providence  of  God,  and  the  Stratonic 
**  atheift,  who  denied  his  Being,  had  this  idea^" 

This  often  repeated  argument  is  fo  loofely  ex- 
,  preffed,  that  it  is  capable  of  many  meanings ;  in 

f  VoiezlesPenfeesdiverfes,  cap.  dxxviii.  &  fuiv.  &radditIon 
aces  Penfees,  cap.  iv.  Reponfeala  10.  8c  ^  la  13,.  pbj^dions^ 
1»  Continuation  des  Penf.  div.  cap.  cxlili. 

fomc 


Se<5V.  4'      of  Mo  ^"ES  demonjlr  at  ed,  37 

fome  of  which  the  afTertion  is  true,  but  not. to  the 
purpofe  -,  in  others  to  the  purpofe,  but  not  true. 
Therefore  before  any  precife  anfwer  can  be  given 
to  it,  it  will  be  neceffary  to  trace  up  moral  duty 
tx)  its  firft  principles.  And  though  an  enquiry 
of  this  fort  fhould  not  prove  the  mofl  entertaining 
either  to  myfelf  or  my  reader,  it  may  be  found 
however  to  deferve  our  pains.  For  a  fpirit  of 
difpute  and  refinement  hath  lb  entangled  and  con- 
founded all  our  conclufions  on  a  fubje(ft,  in  itfelf, 
very  clear  and  intelligible,  that  I  am  perfuaded, 
was  MORALITY  hcrfclf,  of  which  the  ancients 
made  a  Goddefs,  to  appear  perfonally  amongft 
men,  and  be  queftioned  concerning  her  birth,  flic 
would  be  tempted  to  anfwer  as  Homer  does  in 
Lucian,  that  her  commentators  had  fo  learnedly 
embarrafled  the  difpute,  that  flie  was  now  as  much 
at  a  lofs  as  they  to  account  for  her  original. 

To  proceed  therefore  with  all  poflible  brevity  : 
Each  animal  hath  its  injlin5t  implanted  by  nature 
to  dire6t  it  to  its  greatefl  good.  Amongft  thefe, 
man  hath  his  ;  to  which  modern  philofophers  have 
given  the  name  of 

1.  The  MORAL  sense:  whereby  we  conceive 
and  feel  a  pleafure  in  right,  and  a  diftafte  and  averfion 
to  wrong,  prior  to  all  reflexion  on  their  natures, 
or  their  confequences.  This  is  the  firft  inlet  to 
the  adequate  idea  of  morality ;  and,  plainly, 
the  moft  extenfive  of  all  •,  the  Atheift  as  well  as 
Theift  having  it.  When  inftinft  had  gone  thus 
far, 

2.  The  reafoning  faculty  improved  upon  its  di- 
lates :  For,  reflefting  men,  naturally  led  to  exa- 
mine the  foundation  of  this  moral  fenfe^  foon  dif- 
covered  that  there  were  real  elfential  differences  in 
the  qualities  of  human  a6lions,  eftabliflied  by  na- 
ture 5  and,  confequently,  that  the  love  and  hatred 

D  3  excited 


3S  ^he  Divine  Legation         Book  I. 

excited  by  the  moral  fen fe  were  not  capricious  in 
their  operations;  for,  that  the  efientiai  properties 
ot  their  objefls  had  a  specific  difference.  Rea- 
fon  having  gone  thus  far,  and  thus  far  too  it  might 
condudl  the  Stratonic  atheift,  it  Hopped  ;  and 
found  fomething  Vv^as  now  wanting  whereon  to  efla- 
blifhthe  morality,  properly  fo  called,  of  adiionsj 
that  is,  an  obligation  on  men  to  perform  fome, 
and  to  avoid  others ;  and  that,  for  this,  there  was 
need  of  calling  in  other  principles  to  its  affiftance  : 
Becaufe  nothing  can  thus  oblige  but 

3.  Kfuferior  will  :  And  fuch  a -k;/// could  not 
be  found  till  the  being  and  attributes  ot  God  were 
eftablifhed;  but  wasdifcovered  with  them. 

Hence  arofe,  and  only  from  hence,  a  moral 
DIFFERENCE.  From  this  time  human  adions  be- 
came the  fubjed:  o{ obligation^  and  not  till  now; 
For  though  instinct  perceived  a  difference 
in  adlions;  and  reason  difcovered  that  difference 
to  be  founded  in  the  nature  of  things ;  yet  it  was 
will  only  that  could  make  a  compliance  with 
that  difference  a  duty. 

On  thefe  three  principles  therefore,  namely  tJoQ 
moral  fenfe^  the  e£ential  difference  in  human  a^lions^ 
and  the  will  of  God,  is  built  the  whole  edifice  of 
Pra5iical  morality:  Each  of  which  hath  its  diflind: 
motive  to  enforce  it;  compliance  with  the  moral fenfe 
exciting  a  pleafurable  fenfation;  compliance  with 
the  effential  differences  of  things  promoting  the  or- 
der and  harmony  of  the  univerfe  ;  and  compliance 
with  the  will  of  God  obtaining  an  abundant  re- 
ward. 

This,  when  attentively  confidered,  can   never 
fail  of  affeding  us  with  the  mofl  lively  fenfe  of 
God's  goodnefs  to  mankind,  who,  gracioufly   re- 
fpeding  the  imbecillity  of  man's  nature,  the  flow- 
nefs  of  his  reafon^  and  the  violence  of  his  faffions^ 

hath 


Sedl.  4.     of  Moses  dcmonjlrated.  ■  39 

hath  been  pleafed  to  afford  three  different  excite- 
ments to  the  praiflice  of  virtue ;  that  men  of  all 
ranks,  conftitutions,  and  educations,  might  find 
their  account  in  one  or  other  of  them  •,  fomething 
that  would  hit  their  ■palate^  fatisty  their  reafon,  or 
fubdue  their  will.  I'he  firfl"  principle,  which  is  the 
moral  fcnfe,  would  firongly  operate  on  thofe,  who, 
by  the  exact  temperature  and  balance  of  the  paf- 
fions,  are  difengaged  enough  to  kel  the  delicacy 
of  it's  charms;  and  have  an  elegance  of  mind  to 
refpedt  the  noblenefs  of  its  diflates.  The  lecond, 
which  is  the  ejfeniial  difference,  will  have  its  weight 
with  the  fpeculative,  the  abftrad  and  profound 
reafoners;  and  on  all  thofe  who  excel  in  the  know- 
ledge of  human  nature.  And  the  third,  which 
refolves  itfelf  into  the  will  of  God,  and  takes  in  all 
the  confequences  of  obedience  and  dilbbedience, 
is  principally  adapted  to  the  great  body  of  man- 
kind ^. 

To  thefe  great  purpofes  ferve  the  three  prin- 
ciples, while  in  conjunftion:  But  now,  as  in  the 
civil  world  and  the  affairs  of  men,  our  pleafure,  in 
contemplating  the  wifdom  and  goodnefs  of  pro- 

s  It  may  perhaps  be  objedled,  to  what  is  here  delivered, 
tbat  the  true  principle  of  morality  Jhoidd  hos^e  the  nvorthiejl  vio- 
tive  to  enforce  it :  Whereas  the  nxill  of  God  is  enforced  by  the 
*vie'W  of  reiuards  and  punijhmeuts  ;  on  ijchich  moti've,  'virtue  hath 
the  fmallejl  merit.  This  character  of  the  true  principle  of  mo- 
rality is  perfectly  right ;  and  agrees,  we  fay,  with  the  principle 
which  we  make  ro  be  fo  :  For  the  legitimate  motive  to  virtue, 
on  that  principle,  is  compliance  nuith  the  nvill  of  God ;  which 
hath  the  highell  degree  of  merit.  But  this  not  being  found  of 
fufhcient  force  to  take  in  the  generality,  the  confequences  of 
compliance  or  non-compliance  to  this  will,  as  far  as  relates 
to  rewards  and  punilhments,  were  firft  drawn  out  to  the  peo- 
ple's view.  In  v/hich  they  were  dealt  with  as  the  teachers  of 
mathematics  treat  their  pupils ;  when,  to  engage  them  in  a 
fublime  demonltration,  they  explain  to  ciicm  the  utility  of  the 
theorem. 

D  4  ;  viclcnce^ 


40  ^he  Divine  Legation  Book  I. 

vidence,  is  often  difturbed  and  checked  by  the 
view  of  fome  human  perverfity  or  folly  which  runs 
acrofs  that  difpenfation ;  fo  it  is  here,  in  the  intel- 
le5iuaU  This  admirable  provifion  for  the  fupporc 
of  virtue  hath  been,  in  great  meafure,  defeated  by 
its  pretended  advocates ;  who,  in  their  eternal 
fquabbles  about  the  true  foundation  of  morality, 
and  the  obligation  to  its  praftice,  have  facrile- 
gioufly  untwifted  this  threefold  cord  \  and  each 
running  away  with  the  part  he  efteemed  the  ftrong- 
eft  hath  affixed  that  to  the  throne  of  heaven,  as 
the  golden  chain  that  is  to  unite  and  draw  all  unto 
it. 

This  man  propofes  to  illuflrate  the  do6lrine  of 
the  moral  fenfe-,  and  then  the  morality  of  adions 
is  founded  only  in  that  fenfe :  with  him,  meta- 
phyfics  and  logic,  by  which  the  efential  differ- 
ence, in  human  adions,  is  demonftrated,  are  no- 
thing but  words,  notions,  viftons  \  the  empty  regi- 
ons and  fhadows  of  philofophy.  The  profefTors  of 
them  are  moon-blind  wits  j  and  Locke  himfelf  is 
treated  as  a  fchool-man*^.  To  talk  of  reward  and 
punifhment,  confequent  on  the  will  of  a  fttperior, 
is  to  make  the  pradice  of  virtue  mercenary  and 
lervile  •,  from  which,  pure  human  nature  is  the 
mofl  abhorrent. 

Another  undertakes  to  demonflratc  the  ejjential 
differences  cf  things,  and  their  natural  fitnefs  and 
untitnefs  to  certain  ends;  and  then  morality  is 
folely  founded  on  thofe  differences  •,  and  God  and 
his  will  have  nothing  to  do  in  the  matter.  Then 
the  will  of  God  cannot  make  any  thing  morally 
good  and  evil,  juft  and  unjufl:-,  nor  cohfequently 
be  the  caufe  of  any  obligation  on  rnoral  agents : 
becaufe  the  elTences  and  natures  of  things,  which 

^  Chara^ierifiics,  paffim. 

r  conftitutc 


Se&.  4.       0/  Mo  s  E  s  demonjlrafed.  41 

conftitLite  aftions  good  and  evil,  are  independent 
.on  that  will ;  which  is  forced  to  fiibmit  to  their 
relations  like  weak  man's.  And  therefore,  it  there 
■were  no  natural  juftice,  that  is,  if  the  rational  and 
intelledlual  nature  were,  of  itlelf,  undetermined 
and  unobliged  to  any  thing,  and  fo  deftitute  of 
morality,  it  were  not  geffible  that  any  thing  Hiould 
be  made  morally  good  or  evil,  obligatory  or  un- 
lawful, or  that  any  moral  obligation  fliould  be  be- 
gotten by  any  will  or  pofitive  command  whatfo- 

cver And  then  our  knowledge  of  moral  good 

and  evil  is  folely  acquireci  by  abflraft  reafoning : 
And  to  talk  of  its  coming  any  other  way  into  the 
mind,  is  weak  and  fuperftitious,  as  making  God 
afl  unneceffarily  and  fuperfluoufly. 

A  third,  who  propofes  to  place  morality  on  the 
•will  of  a  fuperior,  which  is  its  true  bottom,  ads  yet 
on  the  fame  exterminating  model.  He  takes  the 
other  two  principles  to  be  merely  vifionary  :  The 
moral  fenfe  is  nothing  but  the  impreffion  of  educa- 
tion; t}\Q.  love  of  the  fpccies  iom2inXAC\,  and  invent- 
ed by  crafty  knaves,  to  dupe  the  young,  the  vain, 
and  the  ambitious.  Nature,  he  faith,  hath  con- 
lined  us  to  the  narrow  fphcre  of felf-love;  and  our 
moft  pompous  pretences  of  pure  difmtereflednefs, 
but  the  more  artful  difguife  of  that  very  paflion. 
He  not  only  denies  all  moral  difference  in  adlions, 
antecedent  to  the  will  of  God,  which  (as  we  Hiall 
fhew  anon)  he  might  well  do ;  but  likewife,  all 
fpecific  difference:  will  not  fo  much  as  allow  it  to  be 
a  rule  to  direft  us  to  the  performance  of  God's  will; 
for  that  the  notions  of  fit  and  unfit  proceed  not 
from  that  difference^  but  from  the  arbitrary  impo- 
fitions  of  will  only  ;  that  God  is  the  free  caufe  of 
truths  as  well  as  beings ;  and  then,  confequently, 
it  he  fo  wills,  two  and  two  would  not  make  four. 
M  length  his  fyftem  llirinks  into  a  vile  and  abject 

felliranel's ; 


42  I'he  Divine  Legation  Book  L 

felfiflincfs ;  and,  as  he  degrades  and  contrafts  his 
nature,  he  flips,  before  he  is  aware,  quite  befides 
his  foundation,  which  he  profefles  to  be  the  w/// 
cfGod. 

Thus  have  men,  borne  away  by  a  fondnefs  to 
their  own  idle  fyflems,  prefumptuoufly  broken  in 
upon  that  triple  barrier  ^\  with  which  God  has  been 
gracioufly  pleafed  to  co^er  and  fecure  virtue  ;  and 
given  advantage  to  the  cavils  of  hbertines  and 
infidels;  who  on  each  of  thefe  three  principles, 
thus  advanced  on  the  ruins  of  the  other  two,  have 
reciprocally  forged  a  fcheme  of  religion  indepen- 
dent of  morality ' ;  and  a  fcheme  of  morality  in- 
dependent of  religion  "^i  who,  how  different  foever 
their  employments  may  feem,  are  indeed  but 
twiffing  the  fame  rope  at  different  ends  :  the  plain 

*>  St.  Paul  would  have  taught  them  much  better ;  who  coUeft- 
ing  together  and  enforcing  all  the  motives  for  the  fraSlice  of^ir^ 
/a£' exprelieth  himfelf  in  this  manner."  Finally ,  brethren,  nvhat- 
''*  foe'ver  things  are  true,  tohatfoe'ver  things  are  honeft,  lohat- 
^'  foeijer  things  arf  juft" — To  ^oittoi',  a^iX^oj,  oaac  Iriv  AAH0H, 
«<ra  DEMNA,  oa-x  AIKAIA — dM^ri  evidently  relating  to  the  ef- 
fential  difference  of  things  ;  ai^^ci  (implying  fomething  of  worth, 
fplendour,  dignity)  to  the  moral  fenfc  men  have  of  this  differ- 
ence ;  and  ^MUio.  juji  is  relative  to  a  law.  The  apoftle 
proceeds — "  ichatfoe'vtr  things  are  pure,  nvhatfoe'ver  things  are 

*' lovely,  Whatfoever  things  are  of  ^ood  report''' og-o,  dyvay 

oa-a.  7r^oc^(p^^j?,  oo-tx.  sv(pyi(i,a.  In  thefe  three  latter  charafters 
marking  the  nature  of  the  three  preceding  :  ciyvoipure  referring 
to  truth ;  w^ocT^iXri  lo'vely^  amiable,  to  honejiy  ;  and  'ivt^n^ot.  of 
good  report t  reputable,  to  the  obfervation  of  laws,  or  juftice. 
He  concludes,  ^' If  there  be  any  virtue,  and  if  there  beany  praife, 
''*'  think  of  thefe  things. ^^  itTi;  a^srij,  koX  'U  tj;  'iica.w^,  Tccvroc 
^r,yl'^tc^e.  Thatis,  If  the  moral  fenfe  and  the  effential  differ- 
ence of  things  can  make  the  practice  of  morality,  a. 'virtue;  or 
©bedience  to  a  law,  matter  of  praife,  think  on  thefe  things. 

'  See  the  fable  of  the  Bees,  and  confer  the  enquiry  into  the  origi- 
nal of  Moral  njir/ue,  and  t\it  fearch  into  the  nature  offociety^  with 
the  body  of  the  book. 

i^  See' the  fourth  Treatife  of  the  Cbara^erifics,  intituled, 
Ja  Enquiry  concerning  Virtue  and  Merit, 

defign 


Scd:,  4.       of  Moses  demotijlrated.  43 

defign  of  both  being  to  overthrow  religion.  But 
as  the  morahft's  is  the  more  plaufible  fchcme,  it  is 
become  moft  in  fafhion :  So  that  ot  late  years  a 
deluge  of  moral  fyftems  hath  overflowed  the  learn- 
ed world,  in  which  either  the  moral  fenfe,  or  the 
effential  difference^  rides  alone  triumphant ;  which 
like  the  chorus  of  clouds  in  Arijlophanes^  the  Aivxat 
Nf(p£A«/,  the  ETERNAL  RELATIONS,  are  intro- 
duced into  the  fcene,  with  a  gaudy  outfide,  to  fup- 
plant  Jupiter,  and  to  teach  the  arts  of  fraud  and 
fophifiry  -,  but  in  a  little  time  betray  themfelves  to 
be  empty,  obfcure,  noify,  impious  nothings. 

In  a  word,  as  to  the  feveral  forts  q\  feparatifts^ 
thofe  I  mean  who  are  indeed  friends  to  religion, 
and  deteft  the  infidel's  abufe  ot  their  principles,  I 
would  recommend  to  their  interpretation  the  fol- 
lowing oracle  of  an  ancient  fage '.  OT  TAP  ES- 
TJN  ETPEIN  THS  AIKAI02INH2  AAAHN  APXHIi 
OTAE  AAAHN  TENESIN,  HTHN  EK  TOT  AI02 
KAITHZ  KOINHS  ^YSEns. 

And  now,  to  come  more  diredly  to  our  adver- 
fary's  argument :  We  fay  then, 

1 .  That  tlie  atheift  can  never  come  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  MORALITY  of  adions  properly 
fo  called. 

2.  That  though  he  be  capable  of  being  afFefted 

This  noble  trutli,  that  the  only  true  fomidatlon  and  original 
of  morality  is  the  'will  of  God  interpreted  by  the  moral  fenfe  avd 
ejjential  difference  of  things,  was  a  random  thought  oi  Chryfp- 
pus  the  Stoic.  I  give  it  this  term,  i .  Becaufe  the  ancient  philo- 
fophy  teaches  nothing  certain  concerning  fhe  true  ground. of 
moral  obligation.  2.  Becaufe  Plutarch's  quoting  it  amonglt 
the  repugnances  of  the  Stoics,  fhews  it  to  be  inconfiften'  with  their 
Other  dodrine.  And  indeed,  the  following  the  ancient  philo- 
fophers  too  fervilely,  has  occafioncd  the  errors  of  modern  mo- 
ralifts,  in  unnaturally  feparating  three  principles  of  praaica! 
morality,  Plato  being  the  patron  of  the  moral fcnje ;  Arifotle  of 
the  ejfnitial  differences ;  and  Zeno  of  arbitrary  nuill. 

with 


44  ^^  Lii>ine  Legation         Book  I. 

with  the  moral  fenfe,  and  may  arrive  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  real  effential  differences  in 
the  qualities  of  human  aftions  ;  yet  tliis  fenfe 
and  this  knowledge  make  nothing   for   the 
purpofe  of M.  Bayle^s  argument:  becaufe  thefe, 
even  in  conjunftion,  are  totally  infufficient  to 
influence  fociety  in   the  praftice  of  virtue: 
which  influence  is  efl'ential  to  the  queflion. 
Both  thefe  conclufions,  I  prefume,  have   been 
clearly  proved  from  what  hath  been  faid  above,  of 
the  origin  of  fociety^  and,  jufb  before,  oi  the  foun- 
dation of  moral  virtue :  But  that  nothing   may  be 
wanting  to  our  argument,  I  Ihall  crave  leave  to 
examine  the  matter  with  a  little  more  exadtnefs. 

I .  And  firft,  that  an  atheifi^  as  fuch^  can  never 
arrive  to  the  knowledge  of  the  morality  of  a5lions^ 
properly  fo  called^  we  fliall  farther  make  good  againft 
Mr.  BayWs  reafoning  which  he  brings  to  prove, 
that  the  Morality  of  human  actions  may  be  demonfira- 
ied  on  the  principles   of  a  Stratonicean,  or   athe- 
ifticFatalift;  whom  he  perfonates  in  this  manner; 
"  The '"beauty,  fymmetry,  regularity,  and  order, 
*'  fcen  in  the  univerfe,  are  the  eflefts  of  a  blind 
*'  unintelligent  nature ;  and  though  this  nature,  in 
"  her  workm.anfhip,  hath  copied  after  no  ideas, 
**  fhe  hath  neverthelefs  produced  an  infinite  num- 
**  ber  of  fpecies,  with   each  its   diftinft  eflential 
*'  attribute.     It  is  not  in  confequence  of  our  opi- 
**  nion,  that  fire  and  water  difi'er  in  fpecies,  and 
"  that  there  is  a  like  difi^erence  between  love  and 
**  hatred,    affirmation  and  negation.     This  fpe- 
•'  cific  difference  is   founded  in  the  nature  of  the 
*'  things  themfelves.     But  how  do  we  know  this  ? 
*'  Is  it  not  by  com.paring  the  eflfential  properties  of 

'"Labeaute,  lafyme'trie,  la  regularite,  Tordre  que  Ton  voit 
dansl'univers,  font  Touvrage  d'une  nature  qui  n'a point  de  con- 
jRoillance,  &  qu'encore,  b'c  Contin,  des  penja  diver/a,  c.  cli. 

"one 


Sedt.  4.       0/"  M  o  s  E  s  demonfl fated.  45 

♦'  one  of  thefe  beings  with  the  eflential  properties 

<«  of  another  of  them  ?  But  we  know,  by  the  fame 

*'  way,  that  there  is  a  fpecific  difference  between 

"  truth  and    falfhood,  between   good   faith  and 

**  perfidioufnefs,  between   gratitude  and  ingrati- 

"  tude,  t^c.     We  may  then  be  affured,  that  vice 

"  and  virtue  differ  fpecifically,  by   their  nature, 

"  independent  of  our  opinion."     This,  Mr.  Bayk 

calls  their  being   naturally  feparated   from   each 

other :  And  thus  much  we  allow  him.  He  goes  on : 

*'  Let"  us  fee  now  by  what  ways  Stratonic  atheifts 

*'  may  come  to  the  knowledge  of  vice  and  virtue's 

*'  being  viorally  as  well  as  naturally  feparated.  They 

"  afcribe  to  the  fame  neceffity  of  nature  the  efta- 

*<  blifliment  of  thofe  relations  which  we  find  to  be 

*'  between  things,  and  the  eitablifhment  of  thofe 

■"  rules  by  which  we  diflinguifli  thofe  relations. 

'*  There   are   rules  of  reafoning   independent  of 

*'  the  will  of  man:  It  is  not  becaufe  men  have 

*'  been  pleafed  to  fix  the  rules  of  fyllogifm,  that 

*'  theretore  thofe  rules  are  juft  and  true :  they  are 

*'  fo  in  themfelves,  and  all  the  endeavours  of  tfre 

*'  wit  of  man  againft  their  effence  and  their  at- 

'*  tributes  would  be  vain  and  ridiculous."     This 

iikewife  we  grant  him.     He  proceeds:  "  If  then 

*'  there  are  certain  and  immutable  rules  for  the  ope- 

*'  ration  of  the  underftanding,  there  are  alfo  fuch 

"  for  the  determinations  of  the  will.'*     But  this 

we  deny.     He  would  prove  it  thus  :  "  The  °  rules 

*'  of  thefe  determinations  are  not  altogether  arbi- 

**  trary,  fome  of  them  proceed  from  the  neceffity 

'^*  of  nature;  and   thefe  impofe  an   indifpenfable 

*^  obligation.     The  moft  general  of  thefe  rules  is 

,  "  this,  that  man  ought  to  willwhat  is  mojt  conform- 

"  Voions  comment  ils  pouvoient  favoir  qu'elles  etoient  outre 
cela  feparees  moralemcnt.  lis  attribuoient,  ^'c.  Idem  ibid. 

°  Les  regies  de  ces  aftes  —  la  ne  font  pas  Joutes  arbitraires : 
i)  y  en  a  qui  emanent,  i^'c.  Idcpiibid. 

<«  able 


46  ^he  Divine  Legation       Book  L 

*'  able  lo  right  reafon:  For  there  is  no  truth 
*'  more  evident  than  this,  that  it  is  fit  a  reafonable 
"  creature  Ihould  conform  to  right  reafon,  and 
*'  unfit  that  fuch  a  creature  fhouid  recede  from  it." 
This  is  his  argument.  To  which  we  fhall  now 
reply  i  and  fhew  that  from  thence  no  moral  differ- 
ence can  arife.  He  contends  that  things  are  both 
?iaturally  and  morally  fep arable.  He  fpeaks  of 
thele  ideas  as  very  different  (as  indeed  they  are) 
and  proves  the  truth  of  them  by  different  argu- 
ments. I^he  natural  effential  difference  of  things 
then,  if  we  mean  any  thing  by  the  terms,  hath 
this  apparent  property  j  that  it  creates  difitnefs  m 
the  agent  to  ad  agreeably  thereto :  As  the  moral 
difference  of  things  creates,  befides  this  fitnefs^  an 
obligation  like  wife :  When  therefore  there  is  anobli^ 
Ration  in  the  agent,  there  is  a  moral  difference  in 
the  things,  and  fo  on  the  contrary,  for  they  are  in- 
feparable.  If  then  we  prove  that  right  reafon  alone 
cannot  properly  oblige,  it  will  follow  that  the  know- 
ledge of  what  is  agreeable  to  right  reafon  doth  not 
induce  a  moral  difference :  Or  that  a  Stratonicean 
is  not  under  any  obligation  to  aft  agreeably  to  right 
reafon,  which  is  the  thing  Mr.  Bayle  contends  for. 

I.  Obligation,  neceffarily  implies  an  obliger: 
The  obliger  muft  be  different  from,  and  not  one 
and  the  fame  with  the  obliged :  To  make  a  man 
at  once  the  obliger  and  obliged,  is  the  fame 
thing  as  to  make  him  treat  or  enter  into  compact 
with  himfelf,  which  is  the  higheft  of  abfurdities. 
For  it  is  an  unqueftioned  rule  '  in  law  and  reafon, 
that  whoever  acquires  a  right  to  any  thing  from  the 
obligation  of  another  tov/ards  him,  may  relinquifh 
that  right.  If  therefore  the  obliger  and  obhged 
be  one  and  the  fame  perfon,  there  all  obligation 
muft  be  void  of  courfe  -,  or  rather  there  would  be 
no  obligation  be^un  :  Yet  the  Sir  atonic  atheill  is 

guilty 


Sed.  4.       0/^  M  OS  E  s  demonjlraUd.  47 

guilty  of  this  abfurdity,  when  he  talks  ofaftions 
being  moral  or  obligatory.  For  what  being  can  he 
find  whereon  to  found  this  obligation  ?  Will  he 
fay  right  reafcn  ?  But  that  is  the  very  abfurdity 
\ve  complain  of;  becaufe  reafon  is  only  an  attribute 
oftheperfon  obliged,  his  afhftant  to  judge  of  his 
obligations,  if  he  hath  any  from  another  being : 
To  make  this  then  the  obliger,  is  to  make  a  man 
oblige  himfelf.  If  he  fay  he  means  by  reafon  not 
every  man's  particular  reafon,  but  reafcn  in  gene- 
ral-, we  reply,  that  this  reafon  is  a  mere  abftraft 
notion,  which  hath  no  real  fubfiftence ;  and  how 
that  which  hath  no  real  fubfiftence  fliould  oblige, 
is  ftill  more  difficult  to  apprehend. 

2,  But  farther,  moral  obligation,  that  is,  the 
obligatioa  of  a  free  agent,  implies  a  law^  which 
enjoins  and  forbids ;  but  a  law  is  tlie  im.pofition  of 
an  intelligent  fuperior,  who  hath  power  to  exa6t 
conformity  thereunto.  But  blind  unintelligent  na- 
ture is  no  lawgiver,  nor  can  what  proceeds  ne- 
cefiarily  from  thence  come  under  the  notion  of  a 
law:  We  fay  indeed,  in  common  fpeech,  the 
•law  of  neceffity^  and  the  law  of  reafon  and  nature ; 
but  thefe  are  merely  popular  exprefiions :  By  the 
firft,  we  mean  only  to  infinuate,  that  necejfity  hath, 
as  it  were,  one  property  of  a  law^  namely  that  of 
forcing  \  and  by  the  fecond,  the  rule  which  the  fu- 
preme  lawgiver  hath  laid  down  for  the  judging  of 
his  will  And  while  this  light  and  direftion  of 
reafon  or  nature  is  confidered  as  a  rule  given  by  the 
God  of  nature^  the  term  may  be  allowed:  Thofe 
who  fo  confidered  the  term  were  the  firft  who  fo 
ufed  it.  After-writer?  retained  the  name  ;  but, 
-by  a  ftrange  abfurdity,  feparated  xSx^  law-giver 
from  his  law  \  on  a  fancy  of  its  being  of  virtue  to 
oblige  by  its  own  intrinfic  excellence,  or  by  the 
happinefs  of  which  it  is   produdive.     But   how 

any 


43  I'he  Divine  Legation       BooK  f< 

any  thing  except  a  law,  in  the  proper  philofophic 
fenfe,  can  oblige  a  dependent  reafonable  being 
endued  with  will,  is  utterly  inconceivable.  The 
fundamental  error  in  Mr.  BayUs  argument  feems 
to  be  this:  He  faw  the  effential  difference  of  things  j 
he  found  thofe  differences  the  adequate  objedl  of 
the  underfianding\  and  fo  too  haftily  concluded 
them  the  adequate  objedl  of  the  will  likewife.  In 
this  he  was  miftaken,  they  are  indeed  the  ade- 
quate objedl  of  the  underflanding -,  becaufe  the 
underflanding  is  necelTitated  in  its  perceptions, 
and  therefore  is  under  the  fole  direflion  of  thefe 
neceffary  differences  -,  and  is  properly  paflive  in 
the  affair.  But  the  will  is  not  neceffitated  in  its 
refolves :  for  inftance,  that  three  are  lefs  than  five, 
the  underflanding  is  neceffitated  to  judge,  but  the 
will  is  not  neceffitated  to  chufe  five  before  three : 
Therefore  the  effential  differences  of  things  are  not 
the  adequate  obj eft  of  the  u'///,  the  law  of  a  fupe- 
rior  mufl  be  taken  in  to  conflitute  obligation  in 
choice,  or  morality  in  aflions. 

Hobbes  feems  to  have  penetrated  farther  into 
this  matter,  than  the  StratomceanofMv.Bayle-y 
he  appeared  to  have  been  fenfible  that  morality  im- 
plied obligation,  and  obligation  a  law,  and  a  law 
■^lawgiver:  Therefore,  having  expelled  the  legif- 
lator  of  the  univerfe,  that  morality  of  adlions 
might  havefome  foundation,  he  thought  fit  to  un- 
derprop it  with  his  earthly  God,  the  Leviathan ; 
and  to  make  him  the  creator  and  fupporter  of  mor, 
ral  right  and  wrong. 

But  a  favourer  of  Mr.  Bayk^s  paradox  may  per- 
haps objedl,  that  as  we  have  allowed  a //^^/r,  and 
unfitnefs  in  adlions,  difcoverabie  by  the  effential 
difference  of  things  i  and  as  this  fitnefs  and  unfit- 
nefs implies  benefit  and  damage  to  the  adlor,  and 
others ;  it  being  in  fadl  feen,  that  the  pradlice  of 

virtue 


Sed.  4*     of  Moses  demGnftrated,  49 

virtue  promotes  the  happinefs  of  the  individual,  or  at 
leaft  of  the  fpecies,  and  that  vice  obftruds  it  -,  it  may- 
be faid,  that  this  will  be  fufficient  to  make  mora- 
iity^  or  obligation^  in  the  Stratonic  world  j  if  not 
in  the  ftrift  fenle  of  the  word,  yet  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  thing.  To  this  we  reply,  that  in  that 
world,  whatever  advanced  human  happinefs,  vs^ould 
be  only  a  natural  good  ;  and  virtue  as  merely  fuchj  ' 
as  food  and  covering:  and,  that  which  retarded  it, 
a  natural  evil,  whether  it  was  vice,  peftilence,  or 
unkindly  feafons.  Natural^  I  fay,  in  contradif- 
tindion  to  morale  or  fuch  a  good  as  any  one 
would  be  obliged  to  feek  or  promote.  For  'till  it 
be  made  appear  that  Man  hath  received  his  being 
from  the  will  of  another  •,  and  fo  depending  on 
that  other,  is  accountable  to  him  for  it-,  he  can 
be  under  no  mcral  obligation  to  prefer  good  to  evil, 
or  even  life  to  death.  From  the  nature  of  any 
adion,  morality  cannot  arile ;  nor  non\  iiz  effeofs : 
Not  from  the  firil,  becaufe,  being  only  reafonable 
or  unreafonable,  nothing  follows  but  a  fitnefs  in 
doing  one,  and  an  absurdity  in  doing  the  other : 
Not  from  the  fecond^  becaufe,  did  the  good 
or  evil  produced  make  the  adion  moral,  brutes, 
ft'om  whole  adions  proceed  both  good  and  evil, 
would  have  morality. 

If  it  be  farther  urged,  that  the  obfervance  of 
thefe  eflencial  differences  is  the  promoting  the  per- 
fection of  a  particular  fyftem,  v/hich  contributes,  in 
its  concentration,  to  the  pertedtion  of  the  uni- 
verfe  -,  and  that  therefore  a  reafonable  creature  is 
cbliged  to  conform  thereto:  I  anfwer,  firft,  that 
(on  the  principles  before  laid  down)  to  make  a  rea- 
fonable creature  obliged,  in  this  cafe,  he  muft  firit 
be  enforced  by  the  whole,  of  which  he  is  part. 
This  enforcement  cannot  here  be  by  intentional 
command,  whole  object  is  free  agency,  becaufe 
.  Vol.  I.  E  "  the 


CO  ^hc  Divine  Legation  BookIv, 

the  St7'atonic  whole,  or  univerfal  nature,  is  blind 
and  unintelligible.  It  mull  force  then  by  the 
neceffity  of  its  nature;  and  this  will,  indeed, 
make  men  obliged  as  clocks  are  by  weights,  but 
never  as  free  agents  are,  by  the  command  of 
an  intelligent  fuperior,  which  only  can  make 
a6tions  moral.  But  fecondly,  an  uniform  perfeft 
whole  can  never  be  the  effed  of  blind  fate,  or 
chance :  but  is  the  plain  image  and  impreffion  of 
one  intelligent  felf-exiftent  mind.  In  a  word,  as 
it  is  of  the  nature  of  the  independent  firft  caufe  of 
all  things  to  be  obliged  only  by  his  own  wifdom-^ 
fo  it  feems  to  be  of  the  nature  of  all  dependent  in- 
telligent beings  to  be  obliged  only  by  the  will  of 
the  firft  caufe. 

Nor  does  this  contradift  what  we  have  aflerted,. 
and  not  only  aflerted,  but  proved,  in  fpeaking  of 
moral  obligation,  that  nothings  but  will,  can  oblige : 
Becaufe  our  whole  reafoning  is  confined  to  mar^s  ob- 
ligation. And  if  there  be  any  thing  certain,in  the  firft 
principles  of  law  or  reafon,  this  muft  be  confeflfed 
to  be  of  the  number,  that  a  man  can  neither  oblige 
him f elf,  nor  be  obliged  by  na?nes  and  notions  \  fo  that, 
to  create  an  obligation,  the  will  of  fome  other 
being  muft  be  found  out,  A  principle,  which  the 
common  conception  of  man,  and  the  univerfal 
pradlice  of  human  life  confirms.  But,  as  in  our 
difcourfe  of  God,  tlie  weaknefs  of  our  intelledts 
conftrains  us  to  explain  our  conceptions  ot  his  na- 
ture by  human  ideas,  therefore  when  we  fpeak 
of  the  morality  oi  his  aftions,  finding  them  to  be 
founded  in  no  other,,  or  fuperior  will,  we  fay,  he 
is  obliged  only  by  his  own  wifdom :  Obligation,  when 
applied  to  God,  meaning  no  more  than  dire^iion  :- 
for,  that  an  independent  being  can  be  iubjedl  to 
obligation  in  the  fenfe  that  a  depe-ndent  being  is  fub- 
jed,  is,  by  the  very  terms,  an  high  abfurdity.  Obli- 

gaticn^ 


Sefl:.  4»         oJ'M  o  s  e  s  demonjlrated,  5  f 

gation,  therefore,  when  applied  toman,  htm^one 
thing  ;  when  appHed  to  God  another  y  theftrifteft 
rules  of  logic  will  allow  different  attributes  to  be  pre- 
dicated of  each.  It  is  confefied,  we  have  a  clear  and 
adequate  idea. oi^obligaiion., as  it  relates  to  man:  of 
ibis  obligation  we  have  affirmed  fomething  plain 
and  evident :  It  is  likewife  confeffed  wc  have  a  very 
obfcure  and  inadequate  idea  of  obligation,  as  it 
relates  to  God :  Of  this  obligation,  too,  we  have 
affirmed  fomething,  whofe  evidence  muft  needs 
partake  of  the  imperfection  of  its  fubjeCt.  Yet 
there  have  been  found  objedtors  fo  perverfc,  who 
would  not  only  have  clear  conceptions  regulated 
on  obfcure  i  but  what  is /imply  predicated  q{  God^ 
to  deftroy  what  hath  been  proved  of  man  p. 

P  But  to  fet  this  matter  in  a  fuller  light,  I  will  juft  men- 
tion two  objedions  (not  peculiar  to  the  Stratoniceans)  againft 
morality's  being  founded  in  will. 

Obj.  I ,  It  is  faid,  "  That,  as  every  creature  neceflarily 
"'  purfues  happinefsj  it  is  thai  which  obliges  to  moral  obfer- 
"  vance>  and  not  the  will  of  God  :  becaufe  it  is  to  procure 
**  happinefs  that  we  obey  command,  and  do  every  other  aft  : 
"  and  becaufe,if  that  will  commanded  us  to  do  what  would  make 
"  us  unhappy,  we  Ihould  be  forced  to  difobey  it."  To  this 
I  anfwer,  that  when  it  is  faid  morality  is  founded  on  'will,  it  is 
not  meant  that  every  will  obliges,,  but  that  nothing  but  will 
can  oblige.  It  is  plain  the  will  of  an  inferior  or  equal  cannot 
be  meant  by  it :  It  is  not  fimply  will  then,  but  will  fo  and  fo 
circumftanced  :  And  why  it  is  not  as  much  will  that  obliges, 
when  it  is  the  'ivill  of  a  fuperior  feeking  our  good,  as  the  'will 
of  afuperior  Ji?nply,  I  am  yet  to  learn.  To  fay  then  that  hap- 
pinefs and  not  will  makes  the  obligation,  feems  like  faying, 
that  when  in  mechanics  a  weight  is  raifed  by  an  engine, 
the  'whech  a.nd.  pul/ifs  are  not  the  caufe,  but  that  univerfal  af- 
fedion  of  matter  called  ij//n?^/o«.  If  it  be  ftill  urged,  that 
one  can  no  more  be  called  the  obliger  than  the  other  ;  becaufe 
though  happine{s  couid  not  oblige  without  will,  on  the  other 
hg,nd,  will  could  not  oblige  without  happinefs ;  I  reply,  this 
is  a  miitake.  Will  could  not  indeed  oblige  to  unhappincfs ; 
but  it  would  oblige  to  what  fliould  produce  neither  one  nor 
the  other,  though  all  coKfiderations  of  the  confeqaence  of  obey- 
ing or  dijobeying  were  away. 

E  2  On 


52  ^f  Divine  Legation        Book  t 

On  the  whole,  then,  it  appears,  that  w/7/,  and 
will  only^  can  conftitute  obligation-,  and,  confe- 
quently,  moral  adtions,  i.  e.  fuch  as  deferve  re^ 
ward  and  punijhment.  Yet  when  men  refle<5l  on 
the  aflPedions  of  their  own  minds,  and  find  there' 
a  fenfe  of  right  and  wrong  fo  ftrongly  imprefled 
as  to  be  attended  with  a  confiioufnefs  that  the  one 
deferves  reward  and  the  other  punijhment^  evcni 
tho'  there  were  no  God  •,  this  fo  perplexes  matters,- 
as  to  difpofe  them,  in  oppofition  to  all  thofe  plain 
dedu5iions^  to  place  morality  in  the  ejfential  diffe- 
rence of  things.  But  would  they  eonfider  that  that 
'very  fenfation,  which  fo  much  mifleads  us  in  judg- 
ing of  the  true  foundation  of  morality,  is  the  plain- 
eft  indication  oi  will^  which,  for  the  better  fup- 
port  of  virtue  \  fo  framed  and  conftituted  the 
human  mind ;  a  eonftitution  utterly  inconceivable 
on  the  fuppofition  of  no  God-^  would  they,  I  fay, 

Obj.  2.  It  is  faid,  "  That  if,  according  to  the  modern  no- 
**  tions  of  philofophy,  the  will  of  God  be  determined  by  the 
*'  eternal  relations  of  things,  they  are  properly  thofe  relations 
**  (as  Dr.  Clarke  would  have  it)  that  oblige,  and  not  the  will 
*'  of  God.  For  if  A  impel  B  ;  and  B,  C  ;  and  C,  D ;  it  is  A 
and  not  C  that  properly  impells  D."  But  here  I  fufpeft 
the  objeftion  confounds  natural  canfe  and  effeSl  with  moral 
agent  and  -patient ;  which  are  two  diilinft  things,  as  appears^ 
as  on  many  other  accounts,  fo  from  their  efFedls ;  the  one  im- 
plying natural  nccejjlty,  the  other,  only  moral  fit nefs.  Thus,. 
in  the  cale  before  us,  the  eternal  relations  are,  if  you  will,  the 
Jiatural  caiife,  but  the  will  of  God  is  the  moral  agency :  And  our 
queftion  is,  not  of  natural  necej/ify  that  refults  from  the  former, 
but,  of  moral fitnefi  that  refults  from  the  latter.  Thus  that 
which  is  not  properly  the  natural  caufe  of  my  afting,  is  the 
moralcaufe  of  it.     And  fo  on  the  contrary. 

•1  We  have  explained  above  the  admirable  difpofition  of 
things,  by  the  God  of  nature,  for  the  fupport  of  virtue.  And 
it  was  from  this  view  that  an  able  writer,  who  is  for  moderat- 
ing in  the  difpute  about  tnoral  obligation,  calls  the  ejfential  dif- 
ference of  thitigs,  difcoverablebyreafon,  the  internal  obligation ^ 
and  the  n.vill  cfGod,  xhe  external.    J'eniends  (dit  il)  par  obli. 

but 


Sc(5i.  4*      ofMo^-E^demofiJlrated,  53 

but  confider  this,  the  difficulty  would  intirely 
yanifii. 

But  fo  it  hath  happened,  this  evident  truth, 
that  morality  is  founded  in  will.,  hath  been  long  con- 
troverted even  among  'Theirs.  What  hath  per- 
plexed their  dilputes  is,  that  the  contenders  for 
this  truth  have  generally  thought  chemfelves  ob- 
liged to  deny  the  natural  ejfential  differences  of 
things,  antecedent  to  a  law ;  imagining,  that  the 
morality  of  actions  would  follow  the  conceffion. 
But  this  is  a  miftake,  which  the  rightly  diflin- 
guifhing  between  things  naturally  and  morally  fe- 
parable,  (as  explained  above)  will  redlify.  That 
the  diftindlion  hath  lain  much  unobferved,  be- 
caufe  confounded,  is  owing  to  the  unheeded  ap- 
petite and  averjion  of  the  moral  fenfe:  and  their  ad- 
verfaries  being  in  the  famedelufion,  that  the  one 
inferred  the  other^  never  gave  themfelves  any  far- 
ther trouble,  but  when  they  had  clearly  demon- 
ftrated  the  natural  ejfential  difference,    delivered 

gation  interne  celle  qui  eft  uniquement  produite  par  notre  pro- 
pre  raifon,  confideree  comme  la  regie  primitive  de  notre  con- 
duite,  et  en  confequence  de  ce  qu'une  aftion  a,  en  elle-meme, 
de  bon  ou  de  mauvais.  Pour  VobUgatton  exteme  ce  fera  celle 
qui  vient  de  la  volonte  de  quelque  etre,  dont  on  fe  reconnoic 
dependant,  et  qui  commande  ou  defend  certaines  chofes,  fous 
)a  menace  de  quelque  peine.  Burlamaqui,  Principet  du  droit 
nature!,  p.  76. 

If  he  had  called  the  firft,  the  improper  obligation,  and  the 
other  the  proper,  his  terms  had  been  a  great  deal  more  exaft. 
For  it  being  of  the  ^iTence  of  the  relative  term,  obligation,  to 
have  an  outward  refpeft,  or  exterior  relation,  internal  obliga- 
tion muft  be  a  very  figurative,  that  is  to  fay,  a  very  ifnpj-opcr 
expreffion,  when  applied  to  man,  to  fuch  a  being  nothing 
but  will  can  be  the  ground  of  obligation  :  and  fuch  an  obli- 
gation is  rightly  called  external.  Perhaps,  indeed,  that  ruling 
nature  which  draws  all  machines,  whether  brutal  or  rational 
(if  there  be  any  of  the  latter  kind)  to  purfue  happinefs,  may,  in  a 
philo/ophic  {enle,  be  called  the  internal  obligation  ;  but,  furely, 
when  applied  to  «««,  fuppofed  a  free-agent,  the  terras  are  niere 
jargon.  "       • 

E  3  that 


54  'fk^  Divine  Legation         Book  I. 

that  as  a  proof  of  the  moral  difference^  though 
they  be,  in  reality,  two  diftinft  things,  and  inde- 
pendent of  each  other.  One  of  our  ablefb  writers*' 
hath  not  efcaped  thjs  dekifion  :  who,diffatisfied  with 
all  the  principles,  from  which  the  preceding  wri^^ 
ters  of  his  party  had  deduced  the  morality  of 
actions,  when  he  had  demonftrated,  v/ith  greater 
clearnefs  than  any  before  him,  the  natural  ejfential 
difference  of  things^  unluckily  miftook  it  for  the 
moral  difference;  and  thence  made  the  formal  ratio 
of  moral  good  and  evil,  to  conftft  in  a  conformity  of 
mens  actions  to  the  truth  of  the  cafe,  or  otherwife. 
For  it  is  a  principle  with  him,  that  things  may  be 
denied  or  affirmed  to  be  what  they  are,  by  deeds 
as  well  as  words.  But  had  both  parties  beer\ 
pleafed  to  confider  this  natwal  effential  difference 
of  things,  as,  what  it  muft  be   confefied  by  both 

to  be,THE  DIRECTION  WHICH  GoD  HATHGJVEN" 
HIS  CREATURES  TO  BRING  THEM  TO  THE  KNOW- 
LEDGE OF  HIS  WILL;    AND    TH?    RULE    OF     THAT 

WILL,  the  difpute  had  been  at  an  end  :  and  they  had 
employed  this  difference,  not  as  the  atheift  does,  for 
tht  foundation  of  morality  ;  but,  as  all  true  theifts. 
fhould  do,  for  the  medium  to  bring  us  to  that  only 
found  foundation,  the  «;/// and  command  of  God. 
Thofe  who  imagine,  as  the  author  oUhe  principles  of 
natural  law  feems  to  do,  that  this  is  only  a  difpute 
about  words  ^,  are  rnuch  deceived.  The  man  who  re- 
gards the  effential  difference  of  things  as  a  command 
or  a  law  properly  fo  called,  hath  a  very  different  idea 
of  it,  from  him  who  regards  it  only  as  a  rule  or 

'  ne  Religion  of  Nature  delineated. 

^  *'Je  conclus— queles  differencesqui  fe  trpuvent  entreles  prin- 
cJpaux  fyftepies  fur  la  nature  &  I'origine  de  robligation,  ne 
font  pas  auifi  grandesqu'ellesle  paroiiTent  d'abord.  Si  Ton  ex- 
amine depres  ces  fentimens,  Ton  verra  queces  difFerentes  idees, 
reduites  a  leur  jufte  valeur,  loin  de  fe  trouver  en  oppofition, 
peavent  ferapprocher — Burlamaqui,  p.  75—6. 

a  law 


6e(5l.  4.    ^  M  o  s  E  s  demonftraied.  5  ^ 

a  law  improperly  fo  called.  And  the  reafon  is 
plain,  becaufe  thefe  relative  terms  have  an  ef- 
fential  difference ;  a  nile^  referring  fingly  to  thole 
direfted  by  it ;  but  a  law  has  a  doiible  reference  ; 
to  thofe  governed  by  it,  and  to  the  lawgiver  who 
gave  it.  He  therefore  who  regards  it  as  a  7'uk^  ftops 
Ihdrt,  and  refts  obligation  there,  v/here  no  obliga- 
tion can  abide :  But  he  who  regards  it  as  a  law  pro- 
perly fo  called,  (for  thole  whoconfider  it  as  2i.mere 
rule  give  it  the  name  of  law,  becaufe  they  make 
obligation  to  arife  from  it)  refts  obHgation  in  a  law- 
giver, and  purfues  it  to  its  true  fource,  the  throne 
of  God.  The  difpute,  therefore,  is  not  about  W(7rij, 
but  things:  Or  if  we  will  needs  have  it  to  be 
about  words,  it  is  of  the  proper  and  improper  ufe 
of  them;  a  matter  of  importance  not  only  to 
truth,  but  even  to  common  fenfe.  We  fay  a.  found 
is  fweet,  or  a  colour  hot.;  and  as  no  body  is  mifled  by 
thefe  exprelTions,  we  hold  it  foolifh  to  diveil 
them  of  their  figure,  and  formally  to  contend 
that  (ftriftly  and  philofophically  fpeaking)  incon- 
fiflent  properties  are  afcribed  to  them.  But  fliould 
it  once  be  alTumed  that  a  found  may  be  the  fub- 
jed:  of  tafle  and  a  colour  the  fubjed  of  touch, 
it  would  be  time,  I  fuppofe,  to  redify  an  abfurdity 
which  tends  to  confound  all  our  ideas  of  fenfation  : 
Juft  fo  it  is,  in  the  expreiTions  oi  truth  or  hap- 
pinefs^  obliging:  While  thefe  were  confidered 
as  the  rule  or  reward  of  aflions,  given  and  impofed 
by  a  mafter  on  his  fervants,  by  a  creator  on  his 
creature,  the  figure  was  neither  forced  nor  in- 
elegant-, and  did  not  deferve  to  be  quarrelled 
with.  But  when  the  queftion  was  of  real  obli- 
gation, in  a  metaphyfic  fenfe,  then,  ferioufly  to 
contend,  that  it  ariles  from  truth  or  happinefs  or 
from  any  thing  but  will,  is  the  very  philofo- 
phy  of  tafiing  found  and  feeling  colour  \  and 
E  4  equally 


r6  The  Divine  Legation  Book  I, 

equally  tends  to  the  confufion  of  all  our  ideai 
of  reflexion. 

On  the  whole  then  we  fee,  that  an  atheift,  as 
fuch,  cannot  arrive  to  the  knowledge  oi morality  ^ 

2.  We  now  come  to  our  fecond  conclufion 
againft  Mr.  BayWs  argument,  *^  that  the  idea  of 
*'  the  moral  fenfe^  and  the  knowledge  of  the  natu- 
"  ral  ejfential  difference  of  things^  are,  even  in  con- 
^'  junction,  infufficient  to  influence  fociety  in  the 
*'  practice  of  virtue:"  But  we  muft  previoufly  ob- 
ferve,  that  the  arguments,  which  we  allow  to  be 
conclufive  for  the  Stratonic  atheifl's  comprehen- 
fion  of  the  natural  elTential  difference  of  things, 
take  in  only  that  fpecies  of  athcifm :  the  cther^ 
v/hich  derive  all  from  chance  and  hazard,  are  inca- 
pable of  this  knowledge;  and  muft  be  content^  with 
only  the  moral  fenfe  for  their  guide.  Let  us  there- 
fore j^r/?  enquire  v/hat  this  jnoral  fenfe  is  able  to  do 
alone,  towards  influencing  virtuous  practice ;  and 
fecondly^  what  new  f9rce  it  acquires  in  conjun6tion 
with  the  knowledge  of  the  natural  effsntial  differ- 
ence of  things. 

1 .  Men  are  mifled  by  the  name  of  inJI in cl  (which 
we  allow  the  'moral  fenfe  to  be)  to  iinagine  that  its 
imprefTions  operate  very  ftrongly,  by  obferving 
their  force  in  brute  animals.  But  the  cafes  are 
widely  diflferent :  In  beafts,  the  inftinft  is  invinci- 
bly ftrong,  as  it  is  the  fole  fpring  of  adion:  In. 
man,  it  is  only  a  friendly  monitor  of  thejudgmentj 

'One  would  not  have  imagined  any  body  could  be  fo 
>vild  to  affert,  that,  on  thefe  principles,  it  could  not  be  proved, 
that  an  immoral  atheift  deferved  punifhment  at  the  hand  of  God. 
To  fuch  Arewd  difcerners,  I  would  recommend  tlie  following 
cafe.  Your  fervant  gets  drunk  ;  and,  in  that  condition,  negledts 
your  orders,  forgets  your  relation  to  him,  and  treats  it  as  an 
impofture.  Does  he,  or  does  he  not,  deferve  punifhment? 
When  this  is  refoived,  the  point  in  queftion  will  be  fo  too, 

I  and 


Bed:.  4.     0/"  M  o  s  E  s  demonflrated.  57 

and  a  conciliator,  as  it  were,  between  reafon  and 
the  other  appetites;  all  which  have  their  turn  in 
the  determinations  of  the  will.  It  muft  confe- 
quently  then  be  much  weaker,  as  but  iliaring  the 
power  of  putting  upon  adion  with  many  other 
principles.  Nor  could  it  have  been  otherwife  with- 
i)ut  deftroying  human  liberty.  It  is  indeed  of  fo 
delicate  a  nature,  fo  nicely  interwoven  into  the 
frame  and  conftitution  of  man,  and  fo  eafily  loft 
or  effaced,  that fome  have  even  denied  the  exillence 
of  a  quality,  v/hich,  in  mod  of  its  common  fubjeds, 
they  have  hardly  been  able  to  follow.  Infomuch  thac 
one  would  be  tempted  to  liken  it  to  that  candid  ap- 
-pearance^  wHich,  as  the  modern  philofophy  fhews 
us,  refults  from  a  mixture  of  all  kinds  of  primitive 
colours  \  where,  if  the  feveral  forts  be  not  found  in 
fit  proportions,  no  whitenefs  will  emerge  from  the 
compofition:  So,  unlefs  the  original  paffions  and 
appetites  be  rightly  tempered  and  balanced, 
the  moral  fenfe  can  never  n:iew  itfelf  in  any 
llrong  or  fenfible  effed.  This  being  tlie  flate  of 
moral  inffin^^  it  muft  evidently,  when  alone,  be 
too  weak  to  influence  human  practice. 

When  the  moral  fenfe  is  made  the  rule,  and  ef- 
pecially  when  it  is  the  only  rule,  it  is  neceffary 
that  its  reftitude,  as  a  rule,  ihould  be  known  and 
afcertained:  But  this  it  cannot  be  byanAtheift: 
For  till  it  be  allowed  there  v/as  defign  in  our  pro- 
du6lion,  it  can  never  be  flievvn  that  one  appetite  is 
righter  than  another,  though  they  be. contrary  and 
inconfiflient.  The  appetite  therefore,  that,  at  prefenr, 
is  moft  importunate  to  be  gradfied,  muft  be  judged 
to  be  the  right,  how  adverfe  foever  to  the  moral 
fenfe.  But,  fuppofing  this  moral  fenfe  not  to  be 
fo  eafily  confounded  v/ith  the  other  appetites-,  but 
that  it  may  be  kept  diftindt,  as  having  this  diffe- 
rent qualiiy  from  the  reft,  that  it  is  objedive  to  a 

E    5  whole^ 


^8  I'he  Divine  Legation       Book  !„■ 

whcle^  or  entire  fpecies-,  whereas  the  others  terminate 
mfelf^  or  in  thzprivate  fyffem;  though,  as  to  whole 
and  parts,  an  atheift  niiift  have  very  flender  and 
confufed  ideas  ;  granting  this,  I  fay,  yet  human 
adlions,  which  are  the  ilTue  oi  thofe  appetites^ '^oi\\d, 
in  time,  efFeftually,  though  infenlibly,  efface  the 
idea  of  the  moral  fenfe,  in  the  generality  of  men. 
Almoft  infinite  are  the  popular  cuftoms,  in  the 
feveral  nations  and  ages  of  mankind,  that  owe 
their  birth  to  the  more  violent  paffions  of  fear, 
lufl,  and  anger.  The  moll  whimfical  and  capri- 
cious,as  well  as  inhuman  and  unnatural,  have  arifen 
from  thence.  It  mull  needs  therefore  be,  that  cuf- 
toms of  this  original  fliould  be  as  oppofite  to  the 
fzord fenfe,  as  thofe appetites  are,  from  whence  they 
were  derived.  And  of  how  great  power,  cuftom 
is  to  erafe  the  ftrongeri:  impreiiions  of  nature,  much 
ftronger  than  thofe  of  the  moral  fenfe,  we  may  learn 
from  that  general  pra6lice,which  prevailed  in  the  mod 
learned  and  polite  countries  of  the  world,  o'i  expofmg 
their  children''  •,  whereby  the  ftrong  inflindiveaftedi 
on  for  the  offspring  was  violated  without  remorfe. 

This  would  lead  one  into  a  very  beaten  common 
place.     It  fufflces  that 

*'  Of  all  the  moral  painters,  Terence  is  lie  who  fcems  to  have 
copied  human  nature  moft  exacUy.  Yet,  his  man  of  univerfal 
benevolence,  whom  he  draws  with  fo  much  life,  in  that  mailerljt 
llroke,  hcmofum,  hitmani  luhll  a  v:c  aiknum  piito ,  is  the  lame  per- 
lon  who  commands  his  wife  to  expofe  her  new-born  dau2,hter, 
.  and  falls  into  apaiTion  with  her  for  having  committed  that  hard 
taflc  to  another,  by  which  means  the  infant  efcapcd  dcadi,--- 
fi  tneuin  iir-terhan  exequi  I'oluijjei,  inlere}7:ptam  cporhut.  Hence  Plato 
reckons  the  expofing  infants,  if  not  amongtt  the  diclates  of  na- 
ture, yet  amongil:  the  prefcripts  of  right  jeafon:  For  in  his  look 
of  Icvjs,  which  he  compofed  for  the  reformation  of  popular  j^e- 
judices  and  abufes  in  human  policies,  he  decrees,  that  if  the  pa- 
rents had  children,after  a  certain  age,  they  lliould  ex^ojethtm ;  and 
thatfo  effeftually,  hefays,  thatthey  did  not efcape dying  byfamine. 
Chrenics  therefore  ipcaks  both  the  didatcs  of  philofjphy  and  cnf- 
tom,  when  he  charafterizes  fuch  who  had  any  remains  of  this  \\:^.- 
tural  i|)a1intt,  as  perfons  - -jtt/ ;/(fj/:rjfV/.f,wf :/."/ o^/<v/7,r?/5'^f  ^ry««^^^^ 

tiie 


Scd,  4,      of  Moses  demonjirated.  59 

the  faft  is  too  notorious  to  be  difputed.  And  that 
what  makes  more  particularly  for  my  argument  is, 
that  ciijiom  is  a  power  which  oppofes  tht  moral  fenfe 
not  partially,  or  at  certain  times  and  places,  but 
univerfally.  If  therefore  cuftom  in  the  politeft 
ftates,  where  a  providence  was  taught  and  acknow- 
ledged, made  fuch  havock  of  virtue;  into  what 
confufion  muft  things  foon  run,  where  there  is  no 
other  barrier  than  the  feeble  idea  of  the  moral  fenfe? 
Nor  can  it  be  replied,  that  the  cuftoms  here  fpoken 
of,  as  fo  dellruftive  to  the  moral  fenfe,  are  the 
iffue  of  falfe  religions,  which  fpring  and  fountain- 
head  of  evil,  atheifm  at  once  dries  up:  For  the  in- 
ftance  here  given  is  of  acuftom  merely  civil;  with 
which  religion  had  no  manner  of  concern.  And 
fo  are  a  vaft  number  of  others  that  are  carefully 
coUefted  by  the  two  writers  mentioned  above. 

2.  But  now,  fecondly,  for  our  Stratonic  atheift  ; 
in  whom,  we  fuppofe,  the  moral  fenfe,  and  the 
knowledge  of  the  eflential  difference  of  things  ad:  in 
conjun6tion  to  promote  virtuous  praftice.  And, 
in  conjundion,  they  impart  mutual  ftiength  to  onq 
another :  For  as  foon  as  the  effential  difference  is 
eftablifhed  and  applied,  ^  it  becomes  a  m.ark  to  di- 
llinguifh  the  moral  fenfe  from  the  other  appetites, 
which  are  irregular  andv/rong.  And,  the  moral 
fenfe  being  thus  carefully  kept  up  imd  fupported, 
the  mind,  in  its  metaphyfical  reafonings  on  the 
effential  difference,  is  guarded  from  runiiing  into 
vifions,  and  refinements. 

The  queftion  then  is,  "  whether  a  clear  con- 
"  vidion  of  right  and  wrong,  abftraded  from  all 
"  will  and  command,  and  confequently,  from  the 
"  expedation  of  reward  and  punilliment,  be  fuffi- 
*'  cient  to  influence  the  generality  of  mankind  in 
*'  any  tolerable  degree  .^"  That  it  is  nor,  will,  I 
fuppofe,  be  clearly  izzvi  by  the  following  confide- 

ratiqn. 


^o  iToe  Divine  Legation        Book  I, 

ration.  All,  who  have  confidered  human  nature 
attentively,  have  found  ^,  that  it  is  not  enough  to 
make  men  follow  virtue  that  it  be  owned  to  be 
the  greatefi  good ;  which  the  beauty^  benefit^  or  rea- 
fonablenefs  of  it  may  evince.  It  mull  firfl  be  brought 
home  to  them ;  and  confidered  by  them  as  a  good 
that  makes  a  neceffary  part  of  their  happinefs,  be- 
fore it  can  raife  any  dehre  in  them.  For  it  is  not 
conceived  needfull,  that  a  man's  happinefs  fhould 
depend  on  the  attainment  of  the  greateil  poffible 
goodi  and  he  daily  forms  fchemes  ot  complete 
happinefs  without  it.  But  the  gratification  of 
craving  appetites,  moved  ftrongly  by  felf-love, 
being  thought  to  contribute  much  to  human  hap- 
pinefs, and  being  at  the  fame  time  fo  oppoiite  to, 
and  inconfiftent  with  virtue,  the  generality  will 
never  be  brought  to  think,  that  unitorm  virtue 
makes  a  necefiary  part  ot  human  happinefs.  To 
balance  thefe  appetites,  fomething,  then,  more  in* 
tereflmg  muft  be  laid  in  the  fcale  of  virtue ;  and 
this  can  be  only  rewards  and  punifhments,  which 
religion  propofes  by  a  morality  founded  on  will. 

But  this  may  be  farther  underftood  by  what  hath 
been  obferved  above,  concerning  the  nature  and 
original  of  civil  fociety.  Self-intereji,  as  we  there 
fhew,  fpurring  to  adion  by  hopes  and  fears, 
caufed  all  thofe  diforders  amongft  men,  which  re- 
quired the  remedy  of  civil  fociety.  An<Xfelf-intereJiy 
again,  operating  by  hopes  and  fears  in  fociety, 
afforded  means  for  the  redrefs  of  thofe  firft  difor- 
ders ;  fo  far  forth  as  fociety  could  carry  thofe  hopes 
and  fears.  For  to  combat  this  univerfal  palTion  of 
felf-love,  another,  at  leaft  as  flrong,  was  to  be  op- 
pofed  to  it;  but  fuch  a  one  not  being  to  be  found 
in  human  nature,  all  that  could  be  done  was  t^ 

"  See  Locke's  EJJay,  Chap.  OfPo'wer^  §  71. 

turn 


^c^,  5.      ^  M  o  s  E  s  demonftrafed.  6 1 

turn  this  very  paiTion  in  an  oppofite  diredlion,  and 
to  a  contrary  purpofe.  Theretore,  becaufe  fociety 
failed  (from  the  natural  deficiency  of  its  plan)  in 
remedying  the  diforders  it  was  inftituted  to  corre<5t, 
and  confequently  was  obliged  to  call  in  the  aid  of 
religion,  as  is  above  explained-,  it  is  evident  itmiift 
proceed  7?///  on  the  fame  principles  o^  hopes  and  fears. 
But,  of  all  the  three  grounds  of  morality,  the  third 
only  thus  operating,  and  an  atheift  not  having  the 
third,  religion,  which  only  gives  it,  muft  be  un- 
avoidably neceflary  for  fociety.  Or  in  other  words, 
the  moral  fe?ife,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  natural 
ejjential  difference  of  things  in  conjunction,  will  be 
altogether  infufEcient  to  influence  the  generaHty  in 
virtuous  praftice, 

SECT.    V. 

Bu  T  Mr.  Bayle^  who  well  knew  the  force  o£ 
this  argument,  is  unwilling  to  reft  the  mat- 
ter here ;  and  therefore  cafts  about  for  a  motive  c^f 
more  general  influence-,  this,  he  thinks,  he  finds. 
in  that  ftrong  appetite  to  glory,  praife,  and  re- 
putation, which  an  atheiil  muft  needs  have  as  well 
as  other  men.  And  this  makes  his  fecond  argu- 
ment. 

II.  *'  It  is  moft  certain'^,  that  a  man  void  of 
*'  all  religion  may  be  very  fenfiblc  of  worldly 
"  honour,  and  very,  covetous  of  praife  and  glory. 
'*  If  fuch  a  one  find  himfelf  in  a  country  where 
"  ingratitude  and  knavery  expofe  men  to  contempt, 
*'  and  generofity  and  virtue  are  admired,  we  need 
*'  not  doubt  but  he  will  afi^e6t  the  character  of  a 
"  man  of  honour  ♦,  and  be  capable  of  reftoring  a 
"  truft,  even  where  the  laws  could  lay  no  hold 

"11  eft — fort  certain,  qu'unhommedeilicuedefoi,  peat  etre 
fort  fenfible  a  I'konneur  du  monde,  ^c.     Pen/.  dh\  c.  1 79. 

"  upon 


62  The  Divme  Legation       BoOit  !• 

*'  upon  him.  The  fear  of  pafling  in  the  world 
"  for  a  knave  would  prevail  over  his  avarice.  And 
"  as  there  are  men,  who  expofe  themfelves  to  a 
"  thoufand  inconveniences,  and  a  thoufand  dangers, 
"  to  revenge  an  affront,  which  perhaps  they  have 
"  received  before  very  few  witnefles,  and  which 
"  they  would  readily  pardon,  were  it  not  for  fear 
"  of  incurring  infamy  amongft  thofe  with  whom 
"  they  had  to  doj  fo  I  believe  the  fame  here;  that 
*'  this  perfon,  whom  we  fuppofe  void  of  religion, 
"  would,  notwithftanding  all  the  oppofition  of 
*'  his  avarice,  be  capable  of  reftoring  a  truft,  which 
*'  it  could  not  be  legally  proved  he  had  withheld; 
"  when  he  fees  that  his  good  faith  will  be  attended 
*'  with  the  applaufes  of  the  whole  place  where  he 
"  relides ;  while  his  perfidy  might,  fome  time  or 
"  other,  be  objected  to  him,  or  at  leaft  fo  flrong- 
"  ly  fufpected,  that  he  could  not  pafs  in  the 
*'  world's  opinion  for  an  honed  man :  For  it  is 
*'  that  inward  elleem  in  the  minds  of  others^ 
*'  which  we  afpire  at,  above  all  things.  The 
*'  W'Ords  and  a(5lions,which  mark  this  efteem,  pleafe 
"  us  on  no  other  account,  than  as  we  imagine  them 
"  to  be  the  figns  of  what  paffes  in  the  mind :  A 
"  machine  fo  ordered  as  to  make  the  moft  re- 
"  fpedful  gefticulations,  and  to  pronounce  the 
*'  cleareft  articulate  founds,  in  all  the  detours  of 
"  flattery,  would  never  contribute  to  give  us  a 
*'  better  opinion  of  ourfelves,  becaufe  we  fhould 
"  know  they  were  not  figns  of  efteem  in  the  mind 
*'  of  another.  On  thefe  accounts  therefore,  he, 
*'  of  whom  I  fpeak,  might  facrifice  his  avarice  to 
"  his  vanity,  if  he  only  thought  he  fliould  be  fu- 
«'  fpefted  of  having  violated  a  truft.  And  though, 
"  h«  might  even  believe  himfeUfecure  trom  all  fuf- 
"  picion,  yet,  ftill,  he  could  eafily  refolveto  pre- 
"  fer  the  honourable  part  to  the  lucrative,  for  fear- 

"  of 


Sed.  5.      of  Hosts  demonftrated,  6% 

*«  of  falling  into  the  inconvenience,  which  has  hap- 
«  pcned  to  fome,  of  publifliing  their  crimes  them- 
«'  felves,  while  they  llept,  or  in  the  tranlports  of  a. 
"  fever.  Lucretius  ufes  this  motive  to  draw  men, 
**  without  religion,  to  virtue." 

To  this  we  reply,  i.  That  it  is  indeed  true„ 
tliat  commendation  and  difgrace  are  ftrong  motives 
to  men  to  accommodate  themfelves  to  the  opini- 
ons and  rules  of  thole,  v/ith  whom  they  converfe  j. 
and  that  thofe  rules  and  opinions,  in  a  good  mea- 
fure,  correfpond,  in  molt  civilized  countries,  with 
the  unchangeable  rule  of  right,  whatever  Sextus  and 
Montaigne  have  been  pleaied  to  fay  to  the  con- 
trary. For  virtue  evidently  advancing,  and  vice 
as  vifibly  obitruding  the  general  good,  it  is  no 
wonder,  that  that  adtion  fhould  be  encouraged 
with  efteem  and  reputation,  wherein  every  one 
finds  his  account-,  and  ihat^  difcountenanced^ 
by  reproach  and  infamy,  which  hath  a  contrary 
tendency.  But  then  we  fay,  that  feeing  this  good 
opinion  of  the  world  may  be  almoft  as  certainly, 
and  more  quickly  and  eafiiy,  gained  by  a  well- 
acled  hypocrify  than  by  a  fmcere  pradice  of  virtue, 
the  atheiif,  who  lies  under  no  reiiraints,  with  re- 
gard to  the  moral  qualities  of  his  anions,  will  ra- 
ther chufe  to  purfue  that  road  to  reputation,  whicli 
is  confiftent  with  an  indulgence  to  all  his  other 
paflions ;  than  that  whereby  they  will  be  at  conftant 
war  with  one  another ;  and  where  he  will  be  always 
finding  himfelf  under  the  hard  neceffity  o^facri- 
ficing^  as  Mr.  Bayle  well  expreffes  it,  his  avarice  to 
his  vanity.  Now  this  inconvenience  he  may  avoid 
by  refolving  to  be  honed  only  before  company, 
which  will  procure  him  enough  of  reputation;  and 
to  play  the  rogue  in  fecret,  where  he  may  fully 
indulge  his  avarice,  or  wl^at  other  paflicn  he  is 
moft  difpofed  to  gratify.     That  this  vvill  be  his 

fyftem; 


64  ^bs  Divine  Legation        Book  t^ 

fyftem,  who  has  no  motive,  but  popular  reputa- 
tion, to  aft  virtuoufly,  is  fo  plain  that  Mr.  Bayle 
was  reduced  to  the  hardeft  fhifrs  imaginable  to 
invent  a  reafon  why  an  atheift,  thus  actuated  by 
the  love  of  glory,  might  poiTibly  behave  himfelf 
honeilly,  when  he  could  do  the  contrary  without 

fufpicion i."  And  though  he  might  believe  him- 

"  felf  fecure  from  all  fufpicionj  yet  ftiil  he  could 
''  eafily  relblve  to  prefer  the  honourable  part  to  the 
*'  lucrative,   for  fear  of  falling  into  the  inconveni- 
*'  ence  which  hath  happened  to  fome,  of  publifhing 
*'  their  crimes  themfelveSj,  while  they  flept,  or  in 
*'  the  tranfports  of  a  fever."     Lucretius^  fays  he, 
tifes   this  motive  to  draw  men,  without  religion^  to 
virtue.     It  had  been  to  the  purpofe  to  have  told 
us,  what  man,  from  the  time  of  Lucretius  to  his 
own,  had  been  ever  fo  drazvn.    But  they  muft  know 
little  of  human  nature,  who  can  fuppofe,  that  the 
confideration  of  thefe  remote,  polTible  indeed,  but 
very  unlikely  accidents,  hath  ever  any  fhare  in  the 
determination  of  the  will,  when  men  are  deliberat- 
ing on  adions  of  imiportance,  and  diltraded    by 
the  Ihifting  uncertain  views  of  complicated  good 
and  evil.     But  granting  this  to  be  likely,  or  com- 
mon ;  the   man  Mr.  Bayle  defcribes   could   never 
get  clear  of  the  danger  of  that  contingency,  which 
way  foever  he  refolved  to  aft.     Let  us  fuppofe  him 
to  take  the  honourable  part,  even  then,  fleep  or 
a  fever  might  as  eafily  deprive  him  of  the  reputa- 
tion he  affeds:  For  I  believe  there  is  no  man,  of 
this  turn,  but  would  be  as  afhamed  to  have  it 
known,   that   ail  his  virtuous  adlions  proceeded 
from  a  felfifh  vanity,  as  to  be  difcovered  to  have 
fbretched  a  point  of  juftice,  of  which  civil  laws 
could   take  no  cognizance.     It  is  certain,  xhtfirji 
makes  a  man  as  contemptible,  and  more  ridicu-- 
lous  in  the  eyes  of  others,  than  the  latter -,  becaufe 

the 


Sedl.  5.     of  Moses  demonjirated,  65 

the  advantage  aimed  at  is  fantaftical:  and  one, 
difcovery  deep  or  a  fever  is  as  likely  to  make  as 
the  other. 

But,  2.  Suppofing  our  Atheift  to  be  of  fo  fu- 
fpicious  a  turn,  as  to  fear,  that,  even  in  a  courfeof 
the  befl:-a6led  hypocrify,  he  may  rifque  the  danger 
of  a  difcovery,  yet,  as  this  praiflice  enables  him 
to  provide  largely  for  himfelf  by  all  the  means  of 
fecret  injuilice  ;  and,  obferving,  that  though  indeed 
eileem  is  in  general  annexed  to  apparently  good  afti- 
ons,  and  intamy  to  bad  -,  yet  that  there  is  no  virtue 
which  procures  popular  efteem  fo  univerfally, 
if  we  may  judge  of  it,  as  we  mufb,  by  it's  outward 
marks,  as  riches  a7id  fovjer^  there  being  no  infamy 
which  they  will  not  efface  or  cover  •,  and  this,  as 
we  faid  before,  being  a  road  to  efteem  that  leads 
him,  at  the  fame  time,  to  the  gratification  of  his 
other  pafTions  •,  there  is  no  doubt  but  he  will  chufe 
to  run  the  hazard  of  all  the  inconveniences  of  a 
difcovery,  which  fo  ufeful  a  pradice  may  be  indeed 
liable  to,  but  which  it  can  fo  readily  repair.  And 
here  we  are  to  obferve,  and  I  had  need  to  obferve  it  oft, 
Mr.  Bayle  fo  induftrioully  affeding  to  forget  it,  that 
the  people,  the  grofs  body  of  mankind,  are  the  only 
fubjed  in  queftion.  Now  what  they  afFed  is  ppu- 
lar  opinion :  but  ail,  who  know  any  thing,  know 
this,  that  popular  opinion  is  infeparably  attached  to 
riches  and  power  ^ . 

After  many  detours,  Mr.  Bayle  is,  at  length, 
brought  to  own,  that  atheifm  is,  indeed,  in  its  na- 
tural tendency,  deftruftive  to  fociety ;  but  then, 
he  infifts  upon  it,  that  it  never  in  efFeft  becomes  fo, 

III.  Becaufe  (and  this  is  his  next  argument)  men 
do  not  aa  according  to  their  principles^  nor  fet  their 
pradice  by  their  opinions.     He  owns  this  to  have 

Aa/p,o».  ^'  Jsf  iTjc&a—  Hefiod  Ofer.  ^  Dies, 

Vol.  I.  F  very 


66  ^je  Divine  Legation        Book  L 

very  much  of  a  myflery ;  but  for  the  fa6t  appeals 
to  the  obfervation  of  mankind :  "  For  if  it  were 
"  not  io  (fays  he)  ^  how  is  it  polTible  that  ChriftianSi^ 
"  who  know  lb  clearly  by  a  revelation,  fupported 
"  by  fo  many  miracles,  that  they  muft  renounce 
"  vice,  if  they  would  be  eternally  happy,  and  avoid 
"  eternal  mifery  •,  who  have  fo  many  excellent 
*'  preachers — fo  many  zealous  directors  of  con- 
"  fcience — fo  many  books  of  devotion  •,  how  is  it 
"  poflible,  amidft  all  this,  that  Chriftians  fhould 
"  live,  as  they  doj  in  the  moft  enormous  difor- 
"  ders  of  vice?"  And  again'',  agreeably  to  this 
obfervation,  he  takes  notice,  "  that  Cicero  hath. 
*'  remarked  how,  that  many  Epicuream^  contrary 
"  to  their  principles,  were  good  friends  and  honeft 
*'  men;  who  accommodated  their  adlions,  not 
"  to  their  principle,  the  defire  of  pleafure,  but  to 
"  the  rules  of  reafon."  Hence  he  concludes : 
"  That  thofe  lived  better  than  they  talked  ;  where- 
"  as  others  talked  better  than  they  lived.  The 
"  fame  remark  (fays  he)  hath  been  made  on  the 
"  conduct  of  the  Stoics:  their  principle  was, 
"  that  all  things  arrived  by  an  inevitable  necefTity, 
"  which  God  himfelf  was  fubjed  to.  Now  this 
"  Ihould  naturally  have  terminated  in  inadlion-^ 
"  and  difpofed  them  to  abifain  from  exhortations, 
"  promifes,  and  menacing.  On  the  contrary ,> 
"  there  was  no  fed  of  philofophers  more  given  to 
"  preaching  •,  or  whofe  whole  condu6f  did  more 
"  plainly  ^fhew,  that  they  thought  themfelves  the 
*'  abfolute  mailers  of  their  own  delliny."  The 
conclufion  he  draws  from  all  this,  and  much  more 
to  the  fame  purpofe,  is  "",  that  "  therefore  religion 
"  doth  not  do  that  fervice  towards  reilraining  vice 

*■ — Si  cela n'etok  pas,  comment,  &c.  Poif.  Jiv.  c.  cxxxvi. 
^  Ciceron  I'a    remarque  a  Tegard  de  plufieurs  Epicurien>, 
i^t:.  c.  clxvii. 

*^  Contin.  da  fepf.  dl'v.  c.  cxlix. 

««  as 


Sed:.  5.     c/  M  o  s  E  3  demonftrated,  67 

<»  as  is  pretended,  nor  atheifm  that  injury,  in  en- 
«*  couraging  it :  while  each  profeffor  ads  contrary 
'*  to  his  proper  principle." 

Now  from  this  conclufion,  and  from  words 
dropped  up  and  down'',  of  the  myfterious  quality 
of  this  plia^nomenori,  one  would  fufpeft  Mr.  Bayle 
thought,  that  there  was  fome  ftrange  principle 
in  man,  that  difpofed  him  unaccountably  to 
a6l  in  oppofition  to  his  opinions,  whatev^er  they 
were.  And  indeed  fo  he  mud  needs  fuppofe, 
or  he  fuppoles  nothing  to  the  purpofe :  ior  if,  on 
examination,  it  be  found,  that  this  principle,  what* 
ever  it  be,  fometimes  difpofes  men  as  violently  to 
acl  according  to  their  opinions,  as  at  other  times 
it  inclines  them  to  a6t  dgainfi  them,  the  prmcipk 
will  do  Mi\  Bp.ylc's  argument  no  fervice.  And  if 
the  ■principle ^  after  all,  fliould  prove  to  be  only 
the  violence  of  the  irregular  appetites,  it  will  con- 
clude directly  againft  him.  And  by  good  luck,  we 
have  cur  adverfary  himfelf  confefllng,  that  this  is 
indeed  the  cafe:  for  though,  as  I  faid,  he  com- 
monly afiecls  to  give  this  perverfe  condu6t  a  my- 
fterious air,  the  neceflary  fupport  of  the  fophiftry 
of  his  conclufion  •,  yet,  v/nen  he  is  off  his  guard. 
We  have  him  declaring  the  plain  reafon  of  it ;  as 
where  he  fays,  *' The  >' general  idea  we  entertain 
"  of  a  man,  who  believes  a  God,  a  heaven  and  a  hell, 
*'  leads  us  to  think,  that  he  would  do  every  thing 
"  that  he  knovv's  agreeable  to  the  v/ill  of  God  •,  and 
"  avoid  every  thing  that  he  knows  to  be  difagree- 

-^  Je  Contois  quec'eft  une  chofe  bien  etrange,  qu'un  homme 
cjui  vit  bien  moralement,  &  qui  ne  croit  ni  paradis,  ni  enfer. 
Mais  j'en  reviens  toujours-la,  que  1' homme  eft  une  certaine 
creature,  qui  avec  toute  fa  raifon,  ii'agit  pas  toujoursconfsque- 
ment  a  ia  creance ;  ce  feroit  une  chofe  plus  infinie  que  de 
parcourirtoutes  les  bizarreriesde  Thomme.  Un  Monfcre  plus 
monftrueux  que  les  Centaures  &  que  la  Chimerede  la  fable.  Fenf, 
((if.  c.  clxxvi. 

'  L'idee  generale  veut  que,  i^c.  Pen/,  di'v.  c.  cxxxv. 

F  2  "  able 


6S  ^e  Divine  Legation         Book  I. 

*'  able  to  it :  But  the  life  of  man  that  fhews,  he  does 
*'  the   direft  contrary.     The  reafon  is  this :  Man 
"  does  not  determine  himfelf  to  one  a6lion  rather 
*'  than  another  by  the  general  knowledge  of  what 
"  he  ought  to  do,  but  by  the  particular  judgment 
"  he  palfes  on  each  diftinft  cafe,^  when  he  is  on  the 
*'  point  of  proceeding  to  adtion.     This  particular 
"judgment    may,   indeed,    be    conformable    ta 
*'  thofe  general  ideas  of  fit  and  righi ;  but,  for  the 
*'  mod  part,  it  is  not  fo.     He  complies,  almoft  al- 
"  ways,  with  the:  reigning  pajjion  of  the  heart,  to 
"  the  bias  of  the  temperament,,  to  the  force  of  con- 
**  traced  habits"  &c.  Now  if  this  be  the  cafe,  as 
in  truth  it  is,  we  muft  needs  draw  from  this  prin- 
ciple the  very  contrary  conclufion,  that,  \imen  aSi 
not  according  to  their   opinions,  and  that  it  is  the 
force  of  the  irregular  appetites  which  caufes  this 
perverfity,  a  religionift   will  often  a£i  againfi  his 
principles,  but  an  atheift  never ;  but  always  conform' 
ably  to  them :  becaufe  an  atheift  indulges  his  vici- 
ous paffions,  while  he  adts  according  to  his  principles, 
in  the  fame  manner  that  a  religionift  does,  when 
he  adls  againfi  his.     It  is  therefore  only  accidental 
that  men  a6l  contrary  to  their  opinions ;  then,  when 
they  oppofe  their  palTions :  or  in  Mr.  Bayle's  words, 
when  the  general  knowledge  cf  what  one  ought  to 
do,  doth  not  coincide  with  the  particular  judgment 
onepajfes  on  each  diflin^i  cafe  •,  which  judgment  is  fa 
frequently  dire(fled  by  the  palTions  :  and   this  co- 
incidence always  happens  in  an  atheift's  determina- 
tion of  himfeif  to  action  :  fo  that  the  matter,  when 
ftripped  of  the  parade  of  eloquence,  and  cleared 
from   the  perplexity  of  his  abounding  verbage, 
lies  open  to  this  eafy  anfwcr. 

We  allow,  men  frequently  ad  contrary  to  their 
opinions,  both  metaphyfical  and  morale  in  the  cafes 
Mr.  Bayk  puts. 

I.  In 


Sed.  5-         cfMos^s  demonjlraUd,  69 

I.  In  metaphyfical^  where  the  principle  contradi(5]:s 
common  fentiments,  as  the  Jioicalfale,  and  chrifti- 
an  predefiinaticn'' :  there,   men  rarely  adl  in  confor- 
mity to  their  opinions.     But  this  cafe  doth  not  at 
all  afFedt  the  queftion,  tho'  Mr.  Bayle^  by  urging  it, 
would  infinuate,  that  an  atheift  might  be  no  more 
influenced,  in  pradtice,  by  his  fpeculative  opinion 
of  no  God,  than  a  fatalift,  by  bis,  of  no  liberty.     But 
the  cafes  are  widely  different :  for,  as  the  existence 
of  God  reftrains  all  the  vicious  appetites  by  enforcing 
the  duties  of  morality,  the  difbelief  of  it,  by  taking  off 
that  rellraint,  would  fufFer,  nay  invite,  the  atheift  to 
aft  according  to  his  principles.     But  the  opinion 
0*1  fate  having  no  fuch  effedt  on  the  morality  of  ani- 
ons, and  at  the  fame  time  contradiding  common 
fentiments,  we  eafily  conceive  how  the  maintainers 
of  it  are  brought  to  ad:  contrary  to  their  principles. 
Nay,  it  will  appear,  when  rightly  confidered,  that 
the  atheift  would  be  fo  far  from  not  afling  accord- 
ing to  his  opinions,  that  were  his  principle  of  »<? 
God,  added  to  the  fatalift*s  of  no  liberty,  it  would 
then  occafion  the  fatalift  to  aft  according  to  his 
opinions,  though  he  afted  contrary  to  them  be- 
fore -,  at  leaft,  if  the  caufe  Mr.  Bayle  affigns  for 
men's  not  conforming  their  praftice  to  their  prin- 
ciples, be  true :  for  the  fole  reafon  why  the  fatalift 
did  not  aft  according  to  his  opinions,  was,  becaufe 
they  could  not  be  ufed,  while  he  was  a  theift,  to 
the   gratification   of  his   paflions;    becaufe,    that 
though  it  appeared,  if  there  were  no  liberty,  men 
could  have  no  merit;  yet  believing  a  God,  the 
rewarder  and  punifher  of  men,  as  if  they  had  me- 
rit, he  would  aft  likewife  as  if  they  had.     But  take 
away  from  him  the   belief  of  a  God,  and   there 
would  be  then  no  caufe  why  he  fhould  not  aft  ac- 

*  Venf.  div.  c.  clxxvi. 

F  3  cording 


'yo  ^he  Divine  Legation  Book  I. 

cording  to  his  principle  o^  fate,  as  far  as  relates  to 
moral  pra6lice. 

2.  Next,  in  morals.  We  own  that  men  here  Hke- 
wife  frequently  a6t  contrary  to  their  opinions  :  For 
the  view  (as  we  obferved  above)  of  the  greateft  con- 
fefTed  poffible  good,  which,  to  a  religionift,  is  the 
pradice  of  virtue,  v/ill  never,  'till  it  be  confidered 
as  making  a  neceflary  part  q{  our  happinefs,  excite 
us  to  the  purfuit  of  it :  and  our  irregular  palTions, 
which  are  of  a  contrary  nature,  while  they  continue 
importunate,  and  while  one  or  other  is  perpetually 
foliciting  us,  will  prevent  us  from  thus  confidering 
virtue  as  making  a  neceflary  part  of  our  happi- 
nefs. This  is  the  true  caufe  of  all  that  diforder  in 
the  life  of  man,  which  philofophers  fo  much  ad- 
mire ;  which  the  devout  lament ;  and  for  which 
the  mgrllift  could  never  find  a  cure :  where  the 
appetites  and  reafon  are  in  perpetual  confii6l ;  and 
the  man's  praftice  is  continually  oppofing  his  prin- 
ciples. But,  on  the  other  hand,  an  atheift,  whofe 
opinions  lead  him  to  conclude  fenfual  pleafure  to 
be  the  greateft  pofTible  good,  muft,  by  the  con- 
currence of  his  paflions,  confider  it  as  making  a 
neceflary  part  of  his  happinefs :  and  then  nothing 
can  prevent  his  afting  according  to  his  principles. 

We  own,  however,  that  the  atheift,  Mr.  Bayle 
defcribes,  would  be  as  apt,  nay  apter,  to  aft 
againft  his  opinions  than  a  theift :  but  they  are 
only  thofe  flender  opinions  concerning  the  obligation 
to  virtuous  practice  which  Mr.  Bayle  hath  given 
him :  for  if  men  do  not  purfue  the  greateft  con- 
feflTed  pofllble  good,  'till  they  confider  it  as  making 
a  neceflfary  part  of  their  happinefs ;  I  afk,  which 
is  the  likelieft  means  of  bringing  them  lb  to  con- 
fider it.''  Is  it  the  refledionof/i'^  innate  idea  of  the 
lovelinefs  of  virtue-,  or  the  more  abftra6l  contem- 
plation on  its  effential  difference  to  vice  ?  (and  thefe 

arc 


Sed.  5.      of  Mo  %-E.^  demo?iJlrafed,  71 

are  the  only  views  in  which  an  atheift  can  confidcr 
it)  or  is  it  not  rather  the  behef,  that  the  practice 
of  virtue,  as  rehgion  teaclies  it,  is  attended  with 
an  infinite  reward  ?  To  thofe  opinions,  I  fay,  an 
atheift  is  like  enough  to  run  counter :  but  his  prin- 
ciples of  impiety,  which  cherifh  his  paflions,  we 
muft  never  look  to  find  at  variance  with  his  a<5bions: 
for  our  adverfary  tells  us,  that  the  reafon  why 
pra(5lice  and  principle  To  much  differ,  is  the  violence 
of  human  appetites :  from  which,  a  plain  difcour- 
fer  would  have  drawn  the  contrary  conclufion ; 
that  then,  there  is  the  greater  necelFity  to  enforce 
religion,  as  an  additional  curb  to  licentioufnefs ; 
for  that  a  curb  it  is,  at  leaft  in  fome  degree,  is 
agreed  on  all  hands. 

And  here,  at  parting,  it  may  not  be  amifs  to 
obferve,  how  much  this  argument  weakens  one  of 
the  foregoing :  There  we  are  made  to  believe,  that 
the  moral  fen fe  and  ejfentiai  differences  are  fufficient 
to  make  men  virtuous :  Here  we  are  taught,  that 
thefe,  with  the  fanSf'wn  of  a  Providence  to  boot, 
cannot  do  it  in  any  tolerable  degree. 

As  to  the  lives  of  his  Epicureans^  and  other 
atheifts,  which  we  now  come  to;  the  reader  is 
firft  of  all  defired  to  take  notice  of  the  fallacy  he 
would  here  obtrude  upon  us,  in  the  judgment  he 
makes  of  the  nature  of  two  different  principles,  by 
fetting  together  the  effeds  of  atheifm^  as  they  ap- 
pear in  the  majority  of  half  a  fcore  men-,  and 
thofe  of  religion,  as  they  appear  in  the  majority  of 
infinite  multitudes:  A  kind  offophifm,  which 
fmall  fefls  in  religion  have  perpetually  in  their 
mouths,  when  they  compare  their  own  morals 
with  thofe  in  large  communities,  from  which  they 
dilTent.  And  now,  to  come  to  his  palmary  argu- 
ment taker>  from  faft.     For, 

F  4  IV.  la 


fj2  *the  Divine  Legation  Book  I. 

rV.  In  the  laft  place,  he  fays  %  "  that  the  lives 
««  of  the  feveral  atheifls  of  antiquity  fully  fliew, 
^^  that  this  principle  does  not  neceffarily  produce 
*'  depravity  of  morals."  He  inftances  "  in  DiagoraSy 
"  'Theodorns,  Evemerus,  Nkanor,  and  Hippon : 
*'  whofe  virtue  appeared  fo  admirable  to  a  father 
*'  of  the  church,  that  he  would  enrich  religion 
«*  with  it,  and  make  theifts  of  them,  in  fpite  of  all 
*'  antiquity."  And  then  defcends  to  "  Epicurus^ 
*'  and  his  followers,  whom  their  very  enemies  ac- 
*'  knowledged  to  be  unblameable  in  their  aflions, 
*' as  i\it  Roman  At ticus,  Cajfius,  and  elder  P//«y;" 
and  clofes  this  illuftrious  catalogue  with  an  enco- 
mium on  the  morality  ofFanini  and  Spinofa.  But 
this  is  not  all ;  for  he  tells  us  farther ",  of  whole 
nations  of  atheifls,  "  which  modern  travelers  have 
*'  difcovered  in  the  illands  or  continents  o^  Afrk 
*'  and  America^  which,  in  point  of  morals,  are 
*'  rather  better,  than  worfe,  than  the  idolaters  who 
**  live  around  them.  It  is  true,  that  thefe  atheifts 
**  are  favages,  without  laws,  magiftrate,  or  civil 
**  policy :  but  this  (he  fays)  "■  makes  an  argument 
•*  a  fortiori :  for  if  they  live  peaceably  together 
**  out  of  civil  fociety,  much  rather  would  they  do 
**  fo  in  it,  where  equal  laws  reftrain  men  from 
"  injuftice.'*  He  is  fo  pleafed  with  this  argument, 
that  he  reduces  it  to  this  enthymeme*^: 

*'  Whole  nations  of  atheifts,  divided  into  indc- 
**  pendent  families,  have  preferved  themfelves 
**  from  time  immemorial  without  law. 

**  Therefore,  much  ftronger  reafon  have  we  to 

'  Pen/,  diver.  C.  clxxiv.  &  Contin.  des  Penf.  diver,  c.  cxliv. 
''  Contin.  des  Penf.  div.  c.  Ixxxv.  &  c.  cxliv. 
*  Contin.  des  Penf.  div.  c.  cxviii. 

^  Des   peuples  athees  divifes  en  families  independantes  fe 
font,  ^f. 

I  •*  think 


Scdc.  5.       of  Moses  demonjlrated,  73 

*«.  thirJc  they  would  ftill  preferve  themfelves,  were 
*'  they  under  one  common  mafter,  and  one  com- 
"  mon  law,  the  equal  diftributer  of  rewards  and 
*^  punifliments." 

In  anfwer  to  all  this,  we  fay  (having  once  again 
reminded  the  reader,  that  the  queftion  between 
us  is,  whether  atheifm  would  not  have  a  pernicious 
effeSi  on  the  body  of  a  people  in  fociety)  i.  That 
as  to  the  lives  of  thofe  philofophers,  and  heads 
of  feds,  which  Mr.  Bayle  hath  thought  fit  fo  much 
to  applaud,  nothing  can  be  collefted  from  thence, 
in  favour  of  the  general  influence  of  atheifm  on 
morality.  We  will  take  a  view  of  the  feveral 
motives  thofe  men  had  to  the  pradtice  of  virtue: 
for  hereby  it  will  be  feen,  that  not  one  of  thefe 
motives  (peculiar  to  their  feveral  charafters,  ends, 
and  circumftances)  reaches  the  grofs  body  of  a  peo- 
ple, feized  with  the  infeftion  of  this  principle.  In 
fome  of  them  it  was  the  moral  fenfe,  and  the  eJifen- 
tial  difference  of  things,  that  inclined  them  to  vir- 
tue :  but  we  have  fully  fhewn  above,  that  thefe  arc 
too  weak  to  operate  on  the  generality  of  mankind  -, 
though  a  few  ftudious,  contemplative  Men,  of  a 
more  refined  imagination  and  felicity  of  tempera- 
ment, might  be  indeed  influenced  by  them.  In 
others  it  was  a  warm  pafTion  for  fame,  and  love  of 
glory.  But  though  all  degrees  of  men  have  this 
paffion  equally  ftrong,  yet  all  have  it  not  equally 
delicate:  fo  that  though  reputation  \?>  what  all  af- 
fed,  yet  the  grofs  body  of  mankind  is  little  folicit- 
ous  from  whence  it  arifes;  and  reputation,  or 
at  leaft  the  marks  of  it,  which  is  all  the  people 
afpire  to,  we  have  fhewn,  may  be  eafily  gained  in  a 
road  very  far  from  the  real  practice  of  virtue :  in 
which  road  too  the  people  are  moft  ftrongly  tempt- 
ed to  purfue  it.  Very  fmall  then  is  the  number 
©f  thofe,  on  whom  thefe  motives  would  operate, 

as 


^4-  The  Divine  Legation        Book  I,' 

as  even  Pomponatius,  in  his  ample  confelTion  taken 
above,    hath   acknowledged:  and   yet  thefe   arc 
the  mofl  extenfive  motives  that  thefe  philofophic 
atheifts  had  to  the  pradlice  of  virtue  :  for,  in  the 
reji^  the  motive  muft  be  owned  to  have  been  lefs 
legitimate,  and  reftrained  only  to  their  peculiar 
end  or  circumftances ;  as  concern  for  the  credit  of 
that  feet  they  had  founded,  or  efpoufed :  which 
they  endeavoured  to  ennoble  by  this  fpurious  luftre. 
It  is  not  eafy  to  be  conceived,  how  tender  they 
were  of  the  honour  of  their  principles :    The  con- 
ference between  Pompey  and  Pofidonius  the  Stoic,  is 
a  well-known  ftory  ^ :  and  if  the  fear  of  only  ap- 
pearing ridiculous  by  their  principles  were  ftrong 
enough  to  mal<:e  them  do  fuch  violence  to   them- 
felves,  what  muft  we  believe  the  fear  of  becoming 
generally  odious  would  do,  where  the  principle  has 
a  natural  tendency,  as  we  fee  Cardan  frankly  con- 
feffes,  to  make  the  holder  of  it  the  objedt  of  pub- 
lic abhorrence?  But  if  the  fenfe  of  fhame  was 
not  ftrong  enough,  felf-prefervation  would  force 
thefe  men  upon  the  practice  of  virtue :  for  though, 
of  old,  the  magiftrate  gave  great  indulgence  to 
philofophic  fpeculations ;  yet  this  downright  prin- 
ciple of  atheifm  being  univerfally  underftood  to 
be  deftru6tive  to  fociety,  He  frequently  let  loofc 
his  fevereft  refentment  againft  the  maintainers  of 
it :  fo  that  fuch  had  no  other  way  to  difarm  his 
vengeance,  than  in  perfuading  him  by  their  lives, 
that  the  principle  had  no  fuch  deftrudtive  influence. 
In  a  word  then,  thefe  motives  being  peculiar  to 
the  leaders  of  feds,  we  fee  that  the  virtuous  pra- 
dice  arifmg  from  thence  makes  nothing  for   the 
point  in  queftion. 

2.  But  he  comes  much  clofer  to  it,  in  his  next 

e  Tufc.  Di/^.  1.  ii.  C.  25. 

inftance  % 


Sed.5'       o/" Moses  demonjirated.  y^ 

inftance;  which  is  of  whole  nations  of  modern 
favages,  who  are  all  atheifts,  and  yet  live  more 
virtuoufly  than  their  idolatrous  neighbours.  And 
their  being  yet  unpolicied,  and  in  a  (late  of  na- 
ture, makes,  he  thinks,  the  inftance  conclude  more 
llrongly  for  him.  Now,  to  let  the  truth  of  the 
fad  pafs  unqueftioned  *,  I  fhall  endeavour  to  de- 
tect the  fophiftry  of  his  conclufion,  which  1  had 
before  obviated  in  the  fecond  feftion  g  concerning 
the  infufEciency  of  human  laws  alone,  in  a  fuller 
explanation  of  that  reafoning. 

It  is  notorious,  that  man,  in  fociety,  is  inceflant- 
ly  giving  the  affront  to  the  laws  of  the  community. 
To  oppofe  which,  the  community  is  as  conftantly 
bufied  in  adding  new  ftrength  and  force  to  its  ordi- 
nances. If  we  enquire  into  the  caufe  of  this  per- 
verfenefs,  we  fhall  find  it  no  other  than  the  number 
and  violence  of  the  appetites.  The  appetites  take 
their  birth  from  our  real  or  imaginary  wants :  our 
r<?i?/ wants  are  unalterably  the  famcj  and,  as  arifmg 
only  from  the  natural  imbeciility  of  our  condition, 
extremely  few,  and  eafily  relieved.  Our  fantajiic 
wants  are  infinitely  numerous,  to  be  brought  under 
no  certain  meafure  or  ftandard  •,  and  increafing  ex- 

f  Homer  feemed  to  have  a  very  different  opinion  of  the  mat- 
ter, when  he  makes  the  atheiftical  Cyclopes  to  be  the  mofl 
unjuft  and  violent,  as  well  as  brutal,  race  of  men  upon  earth. 
And  what  faith  might  be  expefted  from  fuch  a  people,  the  poet 
gives  us  to  underitand,  in  that  fine  circumftance,  where  one 
of  them  was  accofted  by  UlyJJes,  who  was  then  a  Granger  to 
their  principles.  This  wary  hero,  imploring  the  affiftance  of  a 
Cyclops  tells  him  with  great  opennefs  who  he  was,  whence  he 
came,  and  the  fum  of  his  adventures.  But  no  fooner  had  the 
monfter  profefled  himfelfa  x}iiQxo\x%h.  free-thinker ,  than  the  ex- 
perienced traveler  loft  all  hopes  of  faith  or  juftice  from  him  ; 
and,  from  that  moment,  put  himfelf  upon  his  guard,  and  would 
not  truft  him  with  one  word  of  truth,  more. 

sSee  p.  13. 

aaiy 


7  6  5^^  Divine  Legation       Book  I. 

acfUy  in  proportion  to  our  improvements  in  the 
arts  of  life.  But  the  arts  of  life  owe  their  original 
to  fociety  ^ :  and  the  more  perfc6l  the  policy,  the 
higher  do  thofe  improvements  rife  ;  and,  with  them, 
are  our  wants,  as  we  fay,  proportionably  increafed, 
and  our  appetites  inflamed.  For  the  violence  of 
thofe  appetites,  that  feek  the  gratification  of  our 
imaginary  wants,  is  much  ftronger  than  that  raifed 
by  our  real  wants :  not  only  becaufe  thofe  wants 
are  more  numerous,  which  gives  conftant  exercifc 
to  the  appetites ;  and  more  unreafonable,  which 
makes  the  gratification  proportionably  difficult; 
and  altogether  unnatural,  to  which  there  is  no  mea- 
fure-,  but,  principally,  becaufe  vicious  cuftom 
hath  affixed  2l  kind  of  reputation  to  the  gratification 
of  the  fantaftic  wants,  which  it  hath  not  done  to 
the  relief  of  the  real  ones.  So  that  when  things 
are  in  this  flate,  we  have  fhewn  above,  that  even 
the  moft  provident  laws,  without  other  afliftance, 
are  infufficient.  But  in  a  ftate  of  nature,  uncon- 
fcious  of  the  arts  of  life,  men's  wants  are  only  real ; 
and  thofe,  few,  and  eafily  fupplied.  For  food  and 
covering  are  all  that  are  neceflary  to  fupport  our 
being.  And  Providence  is  abundant  in  its  provi- 
fions,  for  thefe  wants :  and  while  there  is  more 
than  enough  for  all,  it  can  hardly  be  that  there 
Ihould  be  difputes  about  any  one's  fhare. 

And  now  the  reader  fees  clearly  how  it  might 
well  be,  that  this  rabble  of  atheifts  ihould  live 
peaceably  in  a  flate  of  nature,  though  the  utmoft 

*  There  is  one  remarkable  circumftance  in  the  Mo/aic  hillory, 
that,  I  ihould  fancy,  muft  needs  give  our  free-thinkers  a  high 
idea  either  of  the  veracity  or  penetration  of  the  author.  It  is, 
where,  having  reprefented  Cain  as  the  iirft  who  built  a  city,  or 
made  advances  towards  civil  fociety,  he  informs  us,  that  his 
pofterity  were  the  inventors  of  the  arts  of  life,  in  theinftanccs 
he  gives  ofjahalj  Juhal»  and  Tubal-Cain, 

force 


Se<£t.  5.       0/*  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrated,  yy 

force  of  human  laws,  in  the  improved  condition 
of  fociety,  could  not  hinder  them  from  running 
into  confufion.  But  the  fophiftry  of  this  enthy- 
meme  is  further  feen  from  hence.  Not  Mr.  Bayle 
himfelf  would  pretend,  that  thefe  atheifts,  who 
live  peaceably  in  their  prefent  (late,  without  the 
reftraint  of  human  laws,  would  live  peaceably  with- 
out that  reftraint,  after  they  had  underftood  and 
pradlifed  the  arts  of  life  in  credit  amongft  a  civi- 
ized  people.  In  fociety  therefore,  which  the  arts 
of  life  infeparably  accompany,  an  impofed  curb, 
he  will  own,  would  be  necelTary.  I  then  argue, 
if  a  people,  who  out  of  fociety  could  live  peace- 
ably without  the  curb  of  law,  cannot  live  peaceably 
without  that  curb  in  fociety;  what  reafon  have 
you  to  believe,  that,  though  out  of  fociety  they 
might  live  peaceably  without  the  curb  of  religion, 
they  could  live  peaceably  without  that  curb  in  fo- 
ciety ?  The  anfwer  to  this  muft  bring  on  again  the 
queftion.  How  ftrong  the  curb  on  man  in  fociety 
Ihould  be  ?  which  we  have  fully  examined  in  an- 
other place.  This  argument,  therefore,  proves 
nothing  but  the  folly  of  pretending  to  conclude, 
concerning  man  in  fociety,  from  what  we  fee  of  his 
behaviour,  out  of  it. 

And  here  in  conclufion,  once  for  all,  it  may 
not  be  amifs  to  obferve,  what  an  uniform  flrain 
of  fophiftry  runs  through  all  his  reafonings  on  this 
head.  The  queftion  is,  and  I  have  been  frequent- 
ly obliged  to  repeat  it,  Mr.  Bayle  fo  induftriouQy 
afFeding  to  forget  or  miftake  it,  whether  atheifin 
he  dejlruSiive  to  the  body  of  a  fociety?  And  yet  he, 
whofe  bufmefs  is  to  prove  the  negative,  brings  all 
his  arguments  from  confiderations,  which  either 
affed  not  the  grofs  body  of  mankind,  or  affed  not 
that  body,  in  fociety :  in  a  word,  from  the  lives 
oi fo^hifis  or  favages\  from  the  example  of  a  few 

fpeculative 


yS  ^he  Divine  Legation        Book  I. 

Ipeculative  men  far  above  the  view  of  the  Gommon 
run  of  citizens ;  or  from  that  of  a  barbarous  crew 
oi  favages  much  farther  below  it.  All  his  fadls  and 
reafonings  then  being  granted,  they  flill  fall  fhorc 
and  wide  of  his  conclufion. 

But  the  lail  llroke  of  his  apology  is  more  extra- 
vagant than  all  the  reft :  for  having  proved  athe- 
ifm  very  confiflent  with  a  flate  of  nature,  left  it 
fhould  happen  to  be  found  not  fo  confiftent  with 
civil  fociety,  but  that  one  of  them  muff  rife  upon 
the  r-iiins  of  the  other,  he  gives  a  very  palpable 
hint  which  of  the  two  he  thinks  fhould  be  preferved  j 
by  making  it  a  fcrious  queftion,  difcufled  in  a  fet 
differtation  ',  whether  civil  society  be  ab- 
solutely NECESSARY  FOR  THE  PRESERVATION 

OF  MANKIND^?  and  very  gravely  refolving  it  in 


the  negative. 


SECT.    VI. 


I  Have  now  given,  and  to  the  bed  advantage, 
all  the  arguments  Mr.  EayJe  hath  employed  to 
prove  religion  not  neceifary  to  civil  fociety  •,  by 
which  it  may  be  feen  how  little  the  united  force  of 
wit  and  eloquence  is  able  to  produce  for  the  fup- 
port  of  fo  outrageous  a  paradox. 

The  reader,  will  imagine,  that  now  nothing 
could  hinder  us  from  going  on  to  our  [econd'^iQ- 
pofition;  after  having  fo  itrongly  fupported  the 
firji.  But  we  have  yet  to  combat  a  greater  monfter 
in  morals  before  we  can  proceed. 

As  the  great  foundation  of  our  propoHtion,  that 
the  do5frine  of  a  future  fiate  of  rewards  and  pimifj- 
ijients  is  neceffary  to  civil  fociety^  is  this,  that  reli- 
gion is  neceffcry  to  civil  fociety ;  fo  the  foundation 

^Contui.  des  Pen/,  div.  C.  cxviii. 

^  Si  lesfocietez  font  abfolument  necefiaires  pour  conferver  le 
genre  humain. 

of 


Sed.  6.      of  Moses  demonjirated,  79 

of  this  latter  propofition  is,  that  virtue  is  fo.  Now, 
to  the  lalling  opprobrium  of  our  age  and  country, 
we  have  feen  a  writer  publicly  maintain,  in  a  book 
fo  intituled,  that  private  vices  were  public 
BENEFITS.  An  unheard  of  impiety,  wickedly 
advanced,  and  impudently  avowed,  againftthe  uni- 
verfal  voice  of  nature:  in  which  7nor^.l  virtue  \s 
reprefented  as  the  invention  of  knaves;  and  chri^ 
Jiian  virtue  as  the  impofition  of  fools:  in  which 
(that  his  infult  on  common  fenfe  might  equal  what 
he  puts  on  common  honefty)  he  allures  his  reader, 
that  his  book  is  a  fyftem  of  moil  exalted  morals  and 
religion:  And  that  thejujiice  of  his  country,  which 
publicly  accufed  him,  was  pure  calumny. 

But  it  may  be  fhewn,  and  that  in  very  few 
words,  to  the  admirers  ot  the  low  impure  buffoon- 
ry  and  childifli  rhetoric  of  this  wordy  difciaimer, 
that  his  whole  fabric  is  one  continued  heap  of 
falfhoods  and  abfurdities. 

I.  Firji  then,  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  though  his 
general  pofition  be,  th^.t  private  vices  are  piUic 
benefits^  yet,  in  his  proof  of  it,  he  all  along  explains 
it  by  vice  only  in  a  certain  me  a  fur  e,  and  to  a  certain 
degree.  And,  as  all  other  writers  have  deduced 
the  necefllty  on  private  men  in  fociety,  to  be  vir- 
tuous, and  on  the  magiftrate  feverely  to  punifii 
vice,  trom  the  ;;2(^//^;'/i/y  of  the  nature  of  vice  \  fo  he 
enforces  this  neceflity,  on  both,  from  the  malignity 
of  its  excefs.  And  indeed  he  had  been  unlit  to  be 
reafoned  with,  unlefs  he  had  given  this  reflridion  to 
the  general  fenfe  of  his  propofition. 

However,  no  more  need  be  faid  to  expofe  the 
falfhood  of  that  aflertion,  which  his  whole  book  is 
written  to  fupport,  namely,  that  vice  is  ahfoliitely 
iieceffary  for  a  rich  and  power  fid  fociety. 

For  whatfoever  is  abfolutely  neceffary  to  the  well 
being  of  another  in  matters  of  morals  and  politics, 

muft 


go  ^he  Divine  Legation  Book  L 

mull  be  fo,  by  its  eflential  properties ;  the  ufe  of 
which  thing  will  be,  then,  in  proportion  to  its 
degree.  And  this  the  common  moralifts  obfervc 
of  virtue  with  regard  to  theftate^  But  whatfo- 
cver  is  ufeful  to  another,  only  when  in  a  certain 
degree,  is  not  fo  by  its  eflential  properties  -,  if  not 
by  its  efTential  properties,  then,  of  courfe,  by 
accident  only ;  and,  if  by  accident,  not  neceflary. 

From  hence  it  will  appear,  that  a  great  and 
powerful  community,  which  is,  in  itfelf,  a  natu- 
ral good,  and  as  fuch  defireable,  may  procure  and 
preferve  its  grandeur  without  vice,  though  vice  fo 
frequently  produces  and  fupports  it :  becaufe  this 
utility  of  vice  not  arifmg  from  its  eflTential  qualities, 
but  from  fome  accidental  circumftances  attending 

'  The  firft  part  of  this  affertion  may  be  proved  thus.  If  A  be 
abfolutely  neceflary  to  B,  it  is,  becaufe  neither  C,  nor  D,  nor 
anything  but  A,  can  fupply  the  wants  of  B.  But  if  nothing 
but  A  can  do  this,  it  is,  becaufe  the  fupplial  of  thofe  wants  is 
caufed  by  the  ejfaitial  properties  of  A  j  which  eflential  proper- 
ties are  incommunicable  to  all  other  beings ;  the  communica- 
tion of  them  to  C,  D,  i3c.  making  C  and  D  the  fame  as  A, 
which  is  abfurd  :  for  if  the  fupplial  of  the  wants  of  B  were 
caufed  by  what  was  not  ejjhittal  to  A,  hyst  accidental ;  then 
might  the  wants  of  B,  as  well  be  fupplied  by  C,  D,  iifc.  as  by 
A  ;  becaufe  that  which  is  accidental  only,  may  belong  in  com- 
mon to  feveral  different  beings.  The  fecond  part  may  be  proved 
thus  :  Thefe  ejfential  qualities  can  7iever  be  excejji-ve  ;  as  for 
inftance.  There  can  never  be  too  much  'virtjie'm  a  ftate.  Par- 
ticular virtues,  indeed,  may  be  pufhed  to  excefs  ;  but  then  they 
lofe  their  nature,  and  become  'vices ;  fo  that  in  this  condition 
fociety  will  be  fo  far  from  having  too  muchy  that  it  will  have  too 
little  virtue :  therefore  that  ejjtntial  Quality  in  A,  which  in  a 
lower  Degree  profits  B,  muft  in  a  higher  Degree  be  ftill  more 
ufeful  to  B.  Contrariwife,  accidental  ^alities  may  be  excejji've  ; 
fo  that,  that  accidental  Q^:;X\Xy  in  A,  which  profiteth  B  in  a 
lower  degree,  may  injure  B  in  a  higher.  This  is  the  cafe  oireal 
luxury,  to  a  ftate  ;  as  will  be  Ihewn  in  the  progrefs  of  this  fefti- 
on  :  for  tho'  virtue  pufhed  to  an  excefs  becomes  vice,  yet  vice 
fo  carried  never  becomes  virtue;  but  by  advancing  in malig- 
sity  more  clearly  expofes  it's  true  nature,  and  effefts. 

it. 


Se6t.  6.     ^Z'  M  o  s  E  s  demonfirated.  8 1 

it,  may  be  fupplied  by  fomething  that  is  not  vice 
attended  with  the  fame  circumftance.  As  for  in- 
ftance,  the  confumption  of  the  produfts  of  art 
and  nature  is  the  circumftance  that  makes  ftatcs 
rich  and  (iouriihing.  Now  if  this  confumption  may 
be  procured  by  adions  not  vicious,  then  may  a  ftate 
become  great  and  powcriui  without  the  affiitanceof 
vjcc.  Ihat  it  may,  in  fact,  be  thus  procured, 
fliall  now  be  Ihewn. 

II.  The  author  defcending  to  the  enumeration 
of  his  proofs,  appears   plainly   to   have  feen,  that 
vice,  in  general,  v/as  only  accidentally  produ6live 
of  good :  and   therefore  avoids  entering    into  an 
examination  of  particulars ;  but  felefts,  out  of  his 
favourite  tribe,  luxury,  to   fupport  his  execra- 
ble paradox  -,  and   on  this   alone  refls  his   caufe. 
By  the  aiTiftance  of  this  ambiguous  term,  he  keeps 
fomething  like  an  argument  on  foot,  even  after  he 
hath   left  all  the  reft  of  his  city-crew  to   fhift  for, 
themfelves.     And   it  muft   be  owned,  there  is  no 
word  more  inconftantly  and  capriciouily  appHed 
to  particular  aftions ;  or  of  more  uncertain  mean- 
ing, v/hen  denominating   fuch  actions,  than   the 
term  Luxury.   For,  imapplied,  it  has,  like  all  other 
moral  modes,  an  exad  and  precife   fignification; 
and  includes  in  it,  theabufe  cf  the  gifts  of  providence^ 
The  difficulty  is  only  to  know  v/hat  is  an  cditfe. 
Men  have  two  ways  of  eftJn:iating  the  matter:   the 
one,  by  the  -principles  of  natural  religion  -,  the  other, 
by  i\\Q  pofiti've  inftitutions  of  revealed.  Inthofe^n*?;- 
cipks.,  all   men  are  reafonabiy  well  agreed  j  but, 
concerning  thefe  inftitutions^  when  taken  feparately, 
and  independent  on  thofe  principles,  there  are  va- 
rious  opinions,  which  fuperftition  and  fanaticifm 
have  much  embroiled:  confequently,  thofe  who 
eftimate  luxury  by  this  latter  rule,  where  obfcurity 
and,  ofcourfe,  confufion,  are  fo  hard Iv  avoided. 
Vol.  I.  G  '  will 


82  The  Divine  Legation  BookL 

will  differ  extremely  about  it :  and  amongft  fuch 
diverfity  of  opinions^  it  would  be  ftrange  indeed, 
if  fome  or  other  had  not  ideas  oUuxury,  that  would 
ferve  the  wildeft  hypothecs ;  and  much  ftranger, 
if  fo  corrupt  a  writer  did  not  take  advantage  of  them. 
He  has  done  it  like  a  mafter:  and  with  a  malice 
and  cunning  to  intitle  him,  tho'  he  be  but  a  follow* 
er,  to  the  name  of  leader  of  a  fed. 

Firjl^  in  order  to  perplex  and  obfcure  our  idea 
o^ luxury^  he  hath  laboured  in  a  previous  differtation 
on  the  origin  of  moral  virtue,  to  deflroy  thofe  very 
principles,  by  whofe  afliftance  we  are  only  able  to 
clear  and  afcertain  that  idea:  where  he  decries 
and  ridicules  the  eflential  difference  of  things,  the 
eternal  notions  of  right  and  wrong  *,  and  makes 
VIRTUE,  which  common  moralifts  deduce  from 
thence,  the  oifspring  of  mere  craft  and  pride. 

Nothing  now  being  left  to  fix  theideaof /^.v^rj, 
but  the  pofitive  precepts  oi  chrijtianity,  and  he 
having  ftript  thefe  of  their  only  true  and  infallible 
interpreter,  the  principles  of  natural  religion,  it 
was  eafy  for  him  to  make  them  fpeak  to  any  ab- 
furdities  that  would  ferve  his  purpofe,  and  as  eafy 
to  find  fuch  abfurdities  fupported  by  the  fuperfli- 
tion  and  fanaticifm  of  fome  or  other  of  thofe  many 
fedls  and  parties  of  chrijlianity^  who,  defpifmg  the 
principles  of  the  religion  of  nature,  as  the  weak  and 
beggarly  deynents,  foon  came  to  regard  the  natural 
appetites,  as  the  gracelefs  furniture  of  the  old  man, 
with  his  affections  and  lufis. 

Having  got  chrijlianity  at  this  advantage,  he 
empoifons  all  its  precepts,  by  giving  us,  for  gofpel, 
that  cloudy  phantom  raifed  by  the  hypocrify  of 
mcfiks,  and  the  mifanthropy  of  afcetics :  which 
cries  out,  an  abiife!  whenever  the  gifts  of  provi- 
dence are  ufed  farther  than  for  the  bare  fuflentatioa 
of  life.    So  that  by  this  rule  every  thing  becomes 

luxury 


Se\5l.  6.      of  Mos'E.'c,  demonji rated,  S3 

luxury  which  is  more  than  necejfary.  An  idea  of 
luxury  that  exadly  fitted  our  author's  hypothefis : 
for  if  no  ftate  can  be  rich  and  powerful  while  its 
members  feek  only  a  bare  fubfiftence,  and,  if  what 
is  more  than  a  bare  fubfiftence  be  luxury,  and  luxury- 
be  vice  -,  the  confequence,  you  fee,  comes  in  pat-, 

PRIVATE  VICES  ARE  PUBLIC  BENEFITS.    HcreyOU 

have  the  fole  ifTue  of  all  this  tumour  of  words.  But 
it  is  difficult  to  think,  that  a  writer  of  fuch  depravity 
of  heart,  had  not  farther  ends  in  this  wicked  repre- 
fentation  of  ?mtural  and  reutaled  religion.  Who  can 
doubt  he  had,  when  it  is  feen  what  he  gains  by  it; 
The  fixing  his  followers  in  a  prepoffelTion  for  w*?,, 
and  in  a  prejudice  againft  cJmfiianity?  For  what  can 
be  urged  ftronger  in  favour  or  vice,  than  that  there 
is  really  no  fuch  thing  as  moral  duty  .^  What  more 
in  difcredit  of  chrijlianity,  than  that  all  the  enjoy- 
ments of  life  are  condemned  by  it  as  evil  ? 

III.  But  the  gofpel  is  quite  another  thing  thaa 
what  bigots  and  fanatics  are  wont  to  reprefent  it. 
It  enjoins  and  forbids  nothing  in  moral  pra6fice, 
but  what  natural  religion  had  before  enjoined  and 
forbid.  Neither  indeed  could  it,  becaufe  one  of 
God's  revelations  cannot  contradid  another;  and 
becaufe  he  gave  us  the  lirft,  to  judge  of  others  by 
it.  Accordingly  we  find,  that  though  it  be 
indeed  one  of  the  great  ends  oi  Chrijiianity  (bui 
not  the  main  and  peculiar  end,  as  will  be  fhewn 
hereafter)  to  advance  the  praflice  of  moral  virtue 
amongft  men,  yet  the  Nev>^  TeftamiCnt  doth  not 
contain  any  regulator  complete  fyftem  ordigeft  of 
moral  laws;  the  detached  precepts  enforced  in 
it,  how  excellent  and  divine  Ibever,  arifmg  only 
from  the  occafions  and  circumftances  which  gave 
birth  tothofe  difcourfes  or  writings,  in  which  fuch 
precepts  are  delivered.  For  the  reft,  for  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  fyftem  of  moral-duty,  thefound- 
G  2  ers 


84  ^he  Divine  Legatio?2         Book  I. 

ers  of  our  religion  hold  open  to  us  the  great  pan- 
deft  of  the  law  of  nature,  and  bid  us  fearch  and 
fludy  that.  Finally,  fays  the  apoftle  Paul,  "cvbat- 
foever  things  are  true,  whatfoe-jer  things  are  honefl^ 
what fo ever  things  are  juft,  ivhatfoever  things  are 
lovely,  whatfoever  things  are  of  good  report,  think  on 
thefe  things.  But  where  vicious  cuftom,  or  perverfe 
interpreters,  had  depraved  the  religion  of  nature, 
there,  particular  care  was  taken  to  remove  the  rub- 
bifh  of  time  and  malice,  and  to  reinftate  the  injured 
moralities  in  their  primitive  dignity  and  fplendor. 

The  religion  of  nature,  then,  being  reftored, 
and  made  the  rule  to  explain  and  interpret  the  oc- 
cafional  precepts  of  chrifiinrnty,  what  is  luy^iiry  by 
natural  religion,  that,  and  tliat  only,  muft  be 
luxury  by  revealed.  So  that  a  true  and  precifc 
definition  of  it,  which  this  writer,  (triumphing  in 
the  obfcurity  that,  by  thefe  arts,  he  hath  thrown 
over  the  idea)  thinks  it  impoITible  to  give,  fo  as 
not  to  fuit  with  his  hypothefis,  is  eafiJy  fettled. 
LUXURY  is  the  ujing  the  gifts  of  providence,  to  the 
injury  of  the  ufer,  either  in  his  perfon  or  fortune  ;  or 
to  the  injury  of  any  other,  tovjards  whom  he  Jiands  in 
any  relation,  which  obliges  him  to  aid  and  affijiance. 

-Now  it  is  evident,  even  from  the  initunces  this 
writer  brings  of  the  public  advantages  of  confump- 
tion,  which  he  indifcriminately,  and  therefore  falf- 
ly,  calls  luxury^  that  the  utmoft  confumption  may 
be  made,  and  fo  all  the  ends  of  a  rich  and  powerful 
fociety  ferved,  without  injury  to  the  ufer,  or  any 
one,  to  whom-  he  Hands  related:  confcquently 
without  luxury,  and  without  vice.  When  the 
confumption  is  attended  with  thofe  injuries,  then 
it  becomes  luxury,  then  it  becomes  a  vice.  But 
then,  let  us  take  notice,  that//;/j' wV^,  like  all  others, 
is  fo  far  from  being  advantageous  to  fociety,  that 
it  is  the  moft  certain  ruin  of  it.     It  was  this  luxury 

that 


Sed:.  6.         oJ'M  o  s  e  s  demonjlrated,  85 

that  deflroyed  Rome.  And  the  very  definition 
given  above,  informs  us  of  the  manner  how-, 
namely,  by  enervating  the  body,  debauching  the 
mind,  beggaring  the  tortune,  and  bringing  in  the 
pradlice  of  univerfal  rapine  and  injuftice.  But  the 
wretched  abfurdity  of  fuppofing  luxury  beneficial 
to  fociety,  cannot  be  better  expofed,  than  by  con- 
fidering,  that,  as  luxury  is  the  abufmg  the  gifts  of 
providence,  to  the  injury  of  thofe  to  whom  we 
iland  related  \  and  as  the  public  is  that,  to  which 
every  man  Hands  neareft  related;  the  confequence 
is,  that  luxury  is,  at  one  and  the  fame  time,  be- 
neficial and  injurious  to  the  public.  Nor  can  the 
abfurdity  I  here  charge  upon  him,  be  evaded  by 
faying  it  is  deduced  from  a  propofition  of  his,  and 
a  definition  of  mine,  let  together:  Becaufe,  how- 
ever we  may  differ  whether  theufe  of  things,  where 
no  one  is  injured,  be  luxury,  yet  we  both  agree  in 
this,  that  where  there  is  that  injury  in  the  ufe,  it 
IS  luxury;  and  luxury,  in  this  fenfe,  he  holds  to 
be  beneficial  to  fociety. 

The  cafe  1  here  put,  of  luxurfs  injuring  the 
public,  by  depriving  the  ftate  of  that  aid  and 
afiiftance  from  particulars,  which,  the  relation 
they  ftand  in  to  it,  requires  them  to  give,  is  no 
imaginary  or  unlikely  fuppofition.  This  efFecft  of 
luxury  it  was  that  contributed,  more  immediately 
than  any  other,  to  the  deftrudion  of  the  Ronian 
commonvv'ealth.  For  in  the  laft  flruggles  for  li- 
berty by  a  few,  againfl  tlie  humour  of  a  debauched 
luxurious  people,  when  nothing  but  afufficient  fund 
was  wanting  to  enable  thofe  godlike  men  to  re- 
llore  the  republic,  the  richeil  citizens,  v/ho  yet 
wiflied  well  to  their  country,  could  not  be  prevailed 
on  to  retrench  from  their  private  luxury,  to  fup- 
port  the  public  in  this  critical  exigency  :  which 
therefore,  having  been  long  fiiaken  by  the  luxury. 
G  2  ox 


86  ^ke  Divine  Legation        Book  I, 

ot  its  enemies,  fell  now  a  facrifice  to  the  luxury  of 
its  friends.  Thus  the  great  Romoji  ■patriot  defcribcs 
the  fatal  condition  of  thofe  times  :  Nos  habemus  lu- 
xuriam^  atque  avaritiam-.^  public e  egeilatemj  privatim 
opulent!  am. 

In  a  v/ord  then,  it  is  not  luxury^  but  the  con^ 
fumption  of  the  produfts  of  art  and  natqre,  which 
IS  of  fo  high  benefit  to  fociety.  That  this  latter 
may  well  be,  without  the  former,  appears  plainly 
from  the  definition  given  above.  All  the  differ- 
ence is,  and  that  a  very  effential  one,  when  the 
confmnption  is  made  without  luxury^  infinitely 
greater  numbers  fhare  in  itj  when  it  becomes 
luxury.^  it  is  confined  to  fewer.  The  reafon  of 
this,  and  the  different  effefls  this  different  con- 
fumption  muff  have  on  the  public,  is  very  evident. 
Had  the  confumption  of  the  commodities  and  pro- 
dudls  of  Greece  when  conquered,  (which  indeed 
were  neceffary  to  render  the  Romans  polite  and 
wealthy,)  been  more  equally  made  by  that  people, 
it  would  have  been  extremely  beneficial.  But  being 
unjuftly  claimed  by  one  part,  exclufive  of  the  reft'", 
it  becamiC  luxury  and  dettru6tion.  The  Romian 
hiftorian  fhews  us  how  it  was  brought  about: 
"  There  (fays  he)  the  Roman  people  firft  began  to 
*'  intrigue,  to  debauch,  to  affe6t  a  tafle  for  ftatues, 
•^^  pictures,  and  high-worked  plate :  to  come  at 
*'  which,  they  oppreffed  the  private,  plundered 
"  the  public,  violated  the  temples  of  the  gods, 
"  and  polluted  and  confounded  every  thing  both 
•^•^  facred  and  profane"."     Till  at  length, 

Sa;vior  armJs 

LuxuRTAincubuit,  vidumqueulcifciturorbem. 

"»  Omnia  virtutis,  prasmia  ambitio  pcfficiebat. 

"  Ibi  primum  infuiivit  e.xercitus  populi  Romani  amare,  potare, 
iigna,  tabula:  piflas,  vafa  ccelataniirari,  ea  privatim  ac  publice 
r^pere,  deiubrafpoliare,  faqra  profar.aque  prania  pQlIucrt. 

BOOK 


Sed,  I,     o/MqsES  demorijirated,  Sy 


BOOK    IL 

SECT,  h 

HA  V  I  N  Gnow  proved  the  firll  proposi- 
tion, t.bai  the  inculcating  the  do^r'tne  of  a 
future  fiate  of  rewards  and  punifljments  is  m* 
ceffary  to  the  'well-being  offociety^  by  confiderations 
drawn  from  the  nature  of  man^  and  tlie  genius  of 
civil  foci cty  ;  and  cleared  it  from  the  objedions  pf 
licentious  wits; 

I  proceed  to  tht  fecond-,  which  is,  that  all 

MANKIND,  ESPECIALLY  THE  MOST  WISE  AND 
LEARNED  NATIONS  OF  ANTIQUITY,  HAVE  CON- 
CURRED IN  BELIEVING  AND' TEACHING,  THAT 
THIS  DOCTRINE  WAS  OF  SUCH  USE  TO  CIVI^ 
SOCIETY. 

This  I  fhall  endeavour  to  prove, 

I.  From  the  condud  of  lawgivers,  and  inftitu- 
tors  of  civil  pohcy. 

II.  From  the  opinions  of  all  the  learners  and 
teachers  of  wifdom  in  the  fchools  of  ancient 
philolbphy. 

I.  From  the  conduct  of  lawgivers,  and 
iNSTiTuTORs  OF  CIVIL  POLICY :  who  ncvcr  omit- 
ted to  propagate  and  confirm  religion,  where-ever. 
they  eftablilhed  laws  •,  religion,  which  was  always 
firil  in  their  viev/,  and  laft  in  their  execution.  They 
ufed  it  as  the  inftrument  to  colled  a  body  politic ; 
and  they  applied  it  as  the  bond  to  tye  and  keep  that 
body  together :  they  taught  it  in  civilizing  man  ;  and 
ejiablifhed  it  to  prevent  his  return  to  barbarity  and 
a  favage  life.  In  a  word,  fo  infeparable,  in  antiqui- 
G  4  ty. 


8t8  ^/-'^  Divine  Legation         Book  II. 

ty,  were  the  ideas  of  lawgiving  and  religion', 
that  Plutarch,  fpeaking  of  the  preference  of  athc- 
jfm  to  fupefftition,  fuppofes  no  other  eftabiiihnnent 
of  divine  worihip  than  what  Vv'as  the  work  ct  the 
legiflator.  "  How  much  happier  would' it  have 
"  been  (iays  he)  for  the  Cartliaginisns,  had  their 
*'  firft  lawgiver  been  like  Critias  or  Diagoras,  who 
"  believed  neither  Gods  nor  Demons,  rather  than 
*'  fuch  a  one  as  enjoined  their  public  facrifices  to 
«'  Saturn  ='"? 

That  the  magiftrate,  as  fuch,  hath  taken  thz 
greateft  care  and  pains  to  inculcate  and  fupport 
religion,  we  fhall  prove  at  large :  That  this  care 
and  pains  muft  arife,  and  was  employed,  on  ac- 
count of  its  confeffed  and  experienced  utiUty  to 
the  ftate,  will  need  no  proof. 

But  here  it  will  be  neceiTary  to  remind  the  reader 
of  this  previous  truth,  that  there  nei:er  "jjc.s,  in  any 
age  of  the  worlds  from  the  mofi  early  ace  cunts  of  time  ^ 
to  this  pre fent  hour,  any  civiJ-poUcied  nation  or  people^ 
who  had  a  religion^  of  which  the  chief  foundation  and 
fupport  was  not  the  doctrine  of  a  futures  t  ate  of  re- 
wards and  punijkments ;  the  jewifh  people  only  except- 
ed. This,  I  prefume,  ouradverlaries  will  not  deny. 
Mr.  Bayle.,  the  indulgent  fofter-father  of  infidelity, 
confeffeth  it  in  the  fuUeft  manner,  and  v/ith  the 
utmoft  ingenuity :  "  Toutes  les  religions  du 
"  monde,  tant  la  vraie  que  les  faulfes,  roulent  fur 
"  ce  grand  pivot,  qu'i!  y  a  un  juge  invifible  qui 
*•=  punit  &  qui  recompenfe,  apres  cette  vie,  les  afti- 
**  ons  de  I'homme  tant  exteneures  qu'intericures. 
"  C'eft  de  la  que  Ton  fupofe  que  decoule  la  princi- 
"  pale  utilite  de  la  religion :"  And  thinks,  it  was 

the 


Se£V.  I.  •    0^  Moses  demonftrafed.  89 

the  utility  of  that  doftrine  which  fet  the  magiftrate 
upon  inventing  a  rehgion  for  the  ftate:  "  C'eflle 
"  principal  motif  qui  eut  anime  ccux  qui  I'auroient 
"  inventee\'* 

This  truth,  we  beg  the  reader  always  to  have  in 
mind  :  So  that  when,  in  the  fequel  Oi  this  difcourfe, 
he  meets  with  ancient  teflimonies  for  the  neceflity 
of  RELIGION  tofociety,  he  may  be  fure,  that  the 
dodlrineofaFUTURE  state  of  rewards  and  punifh- 
ments,  was  the  chief  idea  included  in  that  term. 
And  on  this  account  it  is,  that  frequently,  where  the 
ancients  fpeak  o'Lthzfource  of  thofeutiiities,which  can 
proceed  only  from  the  doclrine  o^  z  future  Jlate, 
they  give  it  the  common  name  ot  religion:  as  on 
the  other  hand,  they  otten  call  religion  by  the  re- 
ftridlive  name  oi^ifuture  fiate:  On  which  account, 
I  have  not  fcrupled,  throughout  this  difcourfe,  to 
\\{q.  the  fame  liberty  of  applying  the  generic  or  fpe-* 
cific  term,  one  for  the  other,  v/ithoiit  any  appre- 
henfion  of  being  thought  not  to  underftand  my 
argument,  or  of  being  mifunderftood  by  others : 
Who  when  they  fee  me  bring  the  fafts  and  opini- 
ons of  antiquity,  which  fliew  the  ufetulnefs  of  reli- 
gion in  general,  to  prove  the  ufetulnefs  of  the 
dodlrine  of  a  future  ftate  in  particular,  will  under- 
ftand that  I  come  home  to  my  purpofe,  aad  to  the 
full  proof  of  my  fecond  propofition. 

So  that,  had  I  done  no  more  than  produce  fuch 
f a ^s  and  opinions^  I  had  done  all  that  was  neceiiary. 
But  fince  the  bare  necejfary  is  efteemed  almoftas 
poor  and  unhandfom  a  thing  in  literature  as.  in 
civil  lite,  I  have  employed  the  greateft  part  of  the 
prefent  and  following  books  to  iliew,  from  ancient 
fadls  and  opinions,  the  more  than  ordinary  care 
and  concern  of  all  the  wife  and  learned  for  perpe-: 

^•'Dia.  Crit.  er  Wfi.  Art.  Spjmoza,  ^f,'?.  (E.) 

tuating 


^o  ^be  Divine  Legation       Book  II. 

tuating  the  fpecific  dodrine  of  a  future  ftate  of  re- 
wards and  punifhments. 

Having  premifed  thus  much  to  prevent  miilakes, 
I  proceed  in  the  firft  place* 

I.  To  fhew,  in  general,  the  civil  magiflrate'::^ 
care  in  this  matter. 

The  popular  doftrine  of  a  providence,  andj, 
confequently,  of  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  pu- 
nifhments, was,  as  we  have  faid,  fo  univerfally 
received  in  the  ancient  world,  that  we  cannot 
find  any  civilized  country  where  it  was  not  of 
national  belief.  The  mofl  ancient  Greek  poets,  as 
Mufaus  %  Orpheus  **,  Horner^  Hefiod,  &€.  who  have 
given  fyftems  of  theology  and  religion,  on  the 
popular  creed  of  thofe  nations,  always  reckon  the 
do6trine  of  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  punifh- 
ments as  a  fundamental  article:  And  all  fucceeding 
writers  have  given  teftimony  to  the  fame  continued 
plan.  JSfcbyluSy  Sophocles,  Euripides,  Arijlophanes^ 
whofe  profefTion  it  was  to  reprefent  the  manners 
and  opinions  of  all  civilized  people,  whether  Greeks 
or  Barbarians,  are  full  and  exprefs  to  the  fame  pur- 
pofe.  It  is  further  recorded  in  the  works  of  every 
ancient  hiftorian  and  philofopher,  which  it  would 
be  endlefs  to  recite.  But  Plutarch,  the  moft  know- 
ing of  them  all,  fhall  fpeak  for  the  reft :  Examine "" 
(fays  he,  in  his  tra6t  againft  Colotes  the  Epicurean) 
«=  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  you  may  find  cities 
*'  unfortified,  unlettered,  without  a  regular  ma- 
*' giftrate,  or diftind habitations-,  without  pofTefTi- 
*•  ons,  property,  or  the  ufe  of  money,  and  un- 

« iPkio  Rep.  lib.  n .  ^  Plutarch,  Fita  Lucul. 

« fkilled 


Sed.  r.      of  yio^z^  (l^monjirated,  91 

*^'  fkilled  In  all  the  magnificent  and  polite  arts  of 
*'  life :  But  a  city  without  the  knowledge  of  a  God, 
*'  or  religion ;  without  the  ufe  of  vows,  oaths, 
"  oracles,  and  facrifices  to  procure  good,  or  of 
*'  deprecatory  rites  to  avert  evil,  no  man  can  or 
'*  ever  will  find.'*  And  in  his  confolation  to  Apoi- 
loniusy  he  declares  it  ^  was  fo  ancient  an  opinion 
that  gocd  menjhoiild  be  recompensed  after  deaths  that 
he  could  not  reach  either  the  author  or  original  of  it. 
To  the  fame  purpofe  had  Cicero  and  Seneca  declared 
themfelves  before  him.  The  firft  in  thefe  words; 
*'  £  As  our  innate  ideas  difcover  to  us  that  there  are 
"  Gods,  whofe  attributes  we  deduce  from  reafonj 
*'  fo,  frora  the  confent  of  all  nations  and  people^  we 
*'  conclude  that  the  foul  is  immortal.**  The  other 
thus :  *'  When  ^  we  weigh  the  queftion  of  the  im- 
"  mortality  of  the  foul,  the  confent  of  all  mankind^ 
"  in  their  fears  and  hopes  of  a  future  Jiate,  is  of  no 
"  fmall  moment  with  us." 

In  a  word,  Sex t us  Empiricus,  when  he  would  dif- 
credit  the  argument  for  the  being  of  a  God,  brought 
from  univerfal  confent,  obferves  that  it  would 
prove  too  much ;  bccaufe  it  would  prove  the  truth 
of  the  poetic  fables  of  hell,  in  which  there  was  a( 
general  a  concurrence'. 

But  of  all  nations,  the  Egyptian  was  moft  cele- 
brated for  its  care  in  cultivating  religion  in  general, 
and  the  dodrine  of  a  future  ftate  in  particular: 

8 — Ut  Decs  effe  natura  opinamur,  qualefque  fint  natione 
cognofcimus ;  fic  permanere  animo^  arbitramur  confenfu  natio- 
jium  omnium.     7ufcul.  DifpA.'i.c.xb. 

^  Cum  de  animarum  ast^rnltate  difTerimus,  non  leve  moment- 
tunj  apud  noj  habet  confenfus  hominum,  aac  timentium  inferos 
aut  coleniium.  Ep.    117. 

'  /i/H/.  Phyjicos,  1.  viii.  c.  2.  Comment, 

infomuch 


gz  ^he  Divine  Legation      Book  IT. 

infomuch  that  one  of  the  moft  ^vsiitwlGreek  hifto- 
rians  ainrms,  They  were  the  firft  who  built  altars 
and  erected  flatues  and  temples  to  the  Gods  ^^  and  who 
taught  that  the  foul  of  man  "was  immortal.  And 
Lucian  tells  us^,  'That  they  were  faid  to  be  the  firft 
who  had  the  knowledge  of  the  Gods.  Which  only 
amounts  to  this,  that  they  were  the  firft  and  wifeft 
policied  people:  as  will  appear  prefently. 

But  to  prove  the  magiflrate^s  care  from  hence.-^ 
For  this  account  of  the  antiquity  and  univerfality^ 
of  religion  is  not  given  to  evince  its  truth  \  for 
which  purpofe  other  v/riters  have  often  and  fuccefs- 
fuUy  employed  it;  but  to  manifeft  its  ufe-^  which 
will  be  beft  done  by  inquiring  what  fliare  the  ma- 
giftrate  had  in  it. 

I.  Now  though  no  civilized  nation  was  ever 
without  a  religion  in  general,  and  this  dodlrine  in 
particular ;  and  though  it  was  of  general  belief  even 
before  civil  policy  was  inftituted  amongft  mankind^ 
yet  were  there  formerly,  as  now  there  are,  many 
lavage  nations,  that,  when  firft  difcovered,  appeared 
to  have  long  loft  all  traces  of  religion :  A  fad:  which 
implies  fome  extraordinary  care  in  the  magiftrate 
for  its  fupport  and  prefervation.  For  if  religion 
hath  been  Supported  in  all  places,  at  all  times,  and 
under  all  circumftances,  where  there  was  a  ma- 
giftrate and  civil  policy  ♦,  and  fcarce  in  any  place, 
or  under  any  circumftance,  where  thefe  were 
wanting ;  what  other  caufe  than  the  magiftrate's" 
contrivance  can  be  affigned  for  it's  fupport  ? 

If  it  ftiould  be  faid,  w^hich,  I  think,  is  the  only 
plaufible  thing  can  be  faid,  that  the  reafon  why 

*  Bi)(it«;  T£  xj  ccydy^iJia.'lci  kJ  v»)a?  ^stTa-i  dvovii^on  cr^sx?  'dpareu 

Herod.  Euterpe,  c.  4....  li^uTot  ^i  xj  toyh  rh  hoyo-j  AiyrVlioi 

ifcrjyoi  t\'!roy\i(;  «;  a'vGf a^rs  ij/u^v)  X^oitxloq  er».      Id,  ib.  C.   I  23» 

Dea  Syria,  initio. 

the 


Sed.  I.      c/*  M  o  s  E  s  demonjirated,  93 

the  citizen  had  religion,  and  the  favage  none,  might 
be,  that,  amongft  the  advantages  of  civil  life,  the 
improvement  and  cultivation  of  the  mind  is  one  ; 
which  neceffarily  brings  in  the  knowledge  of  God 
and  religious  obfervance :  To  this,  it  is  fufficient 
to  reply,  that  all  the  national  religions  of  the  ancient 
and  modern  Gentile  world  are  fo  grofs  and  irra- 
tional, that  they  could  not  be  the  produd  of  re- 
flexion or  improved  reafon,  but  were  plainly  of 
the  magiftrate's  fitting  up,  adapted  to  the  capacity 
of  minds  yet  rude  and  uncultivated,  which  could 
bear  nothing  of  a  finer  texture  than  what  was  made 
out  of  the  genius  of  the  nation  and  the  nature  of 
the  government. 

To  give  an  inilance  of  what  we  have  been  fay- 
ing :  I'he  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  in  the  South, 
and  the  people  of  Canada  in  North  America^  were 
on  a  level  with  regard  to  fpeculative  knowledge. 
Or,  if  there  were  any  advantage,  the  Ca?iadians  had 
it.  Thefe,  when  difcovered,  feemed  to  have  no 
rudiments  of  religion  :  The  Mexicans  and  Feruians  . 
had  one  formed,  digefted,  and  eilabliflied :  but 
fuch  a  religion,  as  difcovered  fomething  worfe  than 
mere  ignorance,  but  never  could  be  the  refuk  of. 
reformed  thinking :  However  a  religion  it  was 
that  taught  the  great  articles  of  the  worfhip  of  a 
God,  a  providence,  and  a  future  Hate.  Now  haw 
happened  it  that  thefe  two  great  empires  had  a  reli- 
gion, and  the  Canadians  none,  but  that  the  law- 
givers of  the  former  faw  it  neceffary  to  counte- 
nance, add  to,  and  perpetuate  what  they  found  "", 
for  the  benefit  of  the  ftate  ?  which  advantage  the 
Canadians  wanting,  they  loft,  in  courfe  of  time,  the 
very  footlleps  of  religion.  If  this  will  not  be  allowed 
it  will  be  difficult  to  aflign  a  reafon.  ■ 

™  See  Book  III,  Seft.  6.  II.  i    and  pag.  antepenult. 

Let 


94  2^^  Divine  Legatmt        Book  If. 

Let  us  fuppofe,  according  to  the  objefliorii 
that  Gentile  religion  owes  its  birth  to  the  improved 
and  cuhivated  mind.  Now,  ifwemakecolledlions 
from  the  nature  of  things,  it  will  be  found  more 
likely  that  thefe  northern  favages  fhould  longer 
preferve  the  notions  of  God,  and  the  pradlices  of 
religion,  than  the  fouthern  citizens,  uninfluenced 
by  their  magiftrates. 

The  way  of  reafon  to  get  to  the  knowledge  of 
a  God,  beft  fuited  to  the  common  capacity  of 
inaHj  is  that  very  eafy  one;,  the  contemplation  of 
the  works  of  nature:  For  this  employment,  the 
favage  would  have  fitter  opportunities  given  him 
by  his  vacant  and  fedentary  life-,  and  by  his  con- 
ftant  view  of  nature,  which  all  his  travels,  and  ali 
hisamufements,  perpetually  prefented  to  him  naked 
and  unfophifticated.  The  Comlede  Boulainvilliers^ 
a  v/riter  by  no  means  prejudiced  in  favour  of  reli- 
gion, gives  this  reafon  why  the  Arabians  preferved 
fo  long,  and  with  fo  much  purity>  their  notions 
of  the  divinity ". 

On  the  other  hand,  nature,  by  which  we  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  a  firfb  caufe,  would  be  quite- 
hid  from  the  fouthern  citizen,  bufied  in  the  works 
of  barbarous  arts,  and  inhuman  praftices;  and 
taken  up  with  the  flavifh  attendance  on  the  willy 
and  a  more  flavifli  imitation  of  the  manners  of  a 
cruel  and  capricious  tyrant. 

Nor,  if  we  may  credit  the  relations  of  travellers, 
do  the  northern  people  any  more  negled:  to  exer- 
cife  their  reafon  than  the  fouthern :  It  is  conftanr, 
they  are  obferved  to  have  better  intelleds  than 
thofe  nearer   the  fun  :  which,  being  owing  to  the 

"  La  Fie  de  Mohammed,  p.  147.  Ed.  Amfl.  1 731.  Je  revlens 
volontiers  a  la  louange  de  lafolitude  des  Arabes.  EUe  a  conferve 
chez  eux  plus  longtems,  &  avec  moins  de  melange,  le  fentiment 
naturel  de  la  veritable  divinite,  i^c. 

influence 


Sed.  I.      of  Motifs  demofiflr ate d.  g$ 

influence  of  climes,  is  found  to  hold  all  the  world 
over.  Notwithftanding  this,  the  ifTue  proved  juft 
the  contrary ;  and,  as  we  faid,  the  Peruvians  and 
Mexicans  had  a  religion,  the  Canadians  none  at  all. 

Who  then  can  doubt  that  this  was  owing  to  the 
care  and  contrivance  of  the  magiftrate  ?  But  indeed 
(which  makes  this  inftance  the  more  pertinent)  the 
fa5i  confirms  the  reafoning.  The  founders  of  thefe 
two  monarchies  pretended  to  be  the  meflengers 
and  offspring  of  the  Gods  •,  and,  in  the  manner  of 
the  Grecian,  and  other  legiflators,  of  whom  more 
hereafter,  pretended  to  inlpiration,  efl:ablilhed  reli- 
gion, and  conftituted  a  form  of  worlhip. 

II.  But  not  only  the  exijlence^  but  xht  genius  too 
of  Pagan  religion,  Ihcws  the  magiftrate's  hand  in 
its  fupport. 

Firft,  As  to  the  origine  of  their  Gods. 

Secondly^  The  attributes  given  to  them ;  and 

Thirdly  y  The  mode  of  public  worjhip. 

Firji,  The  idolatry  of  the  Gentile  ftates  was 
chiefly  the  worfliip  of  dead  men  •,  and  thefe,  kings, 
lawgivers,  and  founders  of  civil  policy  The  be- 
nefit accruing  to  the  fbate  both  from  the  confecration 
and  the  worjhip  of  fuch  Gods,  fliews  it  to  be  a  con- 
trivance of  the  lasvgiver.  For,  i .  Nothing  could 
be  a  greater  excitement  to  good  government  than 
to  fliew  the  magiftrate  that  the  public  benefits, 
which  he  fhould  invent,  improve,  or  preferve, 
would  be  rewarded  with  an  immortality  of  fame 
and  glory  ?  Cicero  gives  this  as  the  original  of  the 
civil  apotheofis.  "  It  may  be  eafily  underflood,that 
*'  the  reafon,  why  moft  cities  profecuted  the  me- 
^^  mory  of  their  valiant  men  with  divine  honours, 
*'  was  to  fpur  up  their  citizens  to  virtue,  that  every 
'^*  the  moft  deferving  of  them  might  encounter 
^^  dangers  with  the  greater  chearfullnefs  in  the 
"  fervice  of  his  country.  And  for  this  very  caufe 
I  it 


n6  T'/^^  Divine  Legation        Book  II. 

*'  it  was  that,  at  Athens,  Eredheus  and  his  daugh- 
"  ters  were  received  into  the  number  of  the  Gods ". 
2.  Nothing  could  make  the  people  fo  obfervant  of 
their  laws,  as  a  behef  that  the  makers,  framers, 
and  adminiftrators  of  them  were  become  Gods ; 
and  did  difpenfe  a  peculiar  providence  for  their 
protedion  and  fupport? 

But  the  records  of  antiquity  fupport  this  reafon- 
ing.  The  Egyptians  vv^ere  the  firft  people  who 
perfefbed  civil  policy,  and  eftabhfhcd  religion : 
And  they  were  the  firlt,  too,  who  deified  their 
kings,  lawgivers,  and  publick  bcnefadors  P;  as 
we  may  colleft  from  the  paflage  of  Herodotus^ 
quoted  above,  which  fays,  they  "jj ere  the  fir jl '•^ho 
built  altars^  and  ere^ed  statues  and  terjiples  to 
the  Gods :  For  the  ereding  Jiatues  was,  by  this 
hiftorian,  efteemed  a  certain  mark  that  the  wor- 
fliipers  believed  the  Gods  had  /u';?w;j  natures  j 
as  appears  from  the  reafon  he  gives  why  the  Per- 
^^«j  had  no7?^/«<?y  of  their  Gods,  namely,  hecaufe 
they  did  not  believe  as  the  Greeks^  that  the  Gods 
had  human  natures"'^  that  is,  they  did  not  believe 
the  Gods  were  dead  men  deified  :  This  as  we  fay^ 

°  Atque  adeo  in  plerifqaecivitatibus  intellig.i  poteft,  acacnda: 
virtutis  gratii,  quo  libentius  reipublicai  caufa  psriculum  adiret 
optimus  quifque,  virorum  fortinm  memoriam  honore  deorum 
iriimortalium  confecratam.  Ob  earn  enim  ipiamcaufam  F.rec- 
theus  Athenis  filisque  ejus  in  siumero'  dconim  lunt.  Nat.  Dtor. 
1.  Jii.  c.  19.  . 

UiU'j'  uv  ivlni  K.  ^aff-jAsr^  '/lyavivja  xcTm  tov  Aiyvrclny.  Diod,  Sif.  1.  i. 
•p.  8.  Steph.  Ed. 

cfEMr/VE?,  fi).  Clio,  a  I  ^\.  Valla  explains  the  word  uSpco-Trctpv^m: 
by  ex  hotninibus  ortos  I  and,  I  think,  rightly;  But  our  learned 
Stanley,  in  his  notes  to  ihePerJians  of  y£y2-/^7a/,  underllands  it 
other  wife  :  and  that  it  rzxher  {igriifies  humanafcr  ma  pr^d:tos. 
I  fuppofe  it  appeared  harlh  to  him,  that  any  one  could  imagine 

the 


Sedl.  I.     ^M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrated.  97 

was  a  pradlice,  invented  by  the  Egyptians  \  who^ 
in  procefs  of  time,  taught  the  reft  oi  the  world  their 

the  Gods  had  human  natures;  bat  the  meaning  Is  explained  above. 
Yet  the  learned  and  ingenious  writer  of  the  letters  concerning 
mytholugy,-^.  21/.  fides  with  our  country-man,  and  underftands 
a.'jd^ui'iroiliv/ii  to  fignify, — mai/e  like  a  man — or^  of  the  Jhape  and 
f.%ure  of  a  man.  But  if  we  regard  the  literal  meaning  of  the 
two  fimples  which  make  up  this  compound,  we  cannot 
avoid  underilanding  it  lo  ii^miy,  being  of  ma?:'' i  nature.  How 
then  does  this  learned  writer  iupport  his  .criticifm?  By  a  pafTage 
from  Hecatseus  :  who,  on  pretty  much  the  fame  occafion,  ules, 
(as  he  fuppofes)  a^O^wTrofAopipoc,  inthe  place  ofa>0§«7rc(pt;iL-;  and 
dv^Qnto(A,of(poc,  he  thinks,  all  will  agree,  mull  fignify,  of  the 
Jha-pe  a7id  figure  of  a  man.  No,  not  if  his  own  method  of  inter- 
pretation be  right :  for,  if  oi:\u'K^'<p-yr,Cy  (transferred  from  the 
literal,  to  the  figurative  lenfe)  mufl:  fignify  of  man's/irw,  theo 
uv'i^u'TroiA.oppoi  (o  transferred,  mull  fignity  of  man  s  nature.  But  ic 
is  not  true,  that  Hecatseus  ufes  a;'i';i;i,"7ru/:Ao^^5?  in  the  place  of  «';- 
Qpunrocpvin,  The  propofitions  of  Herodotus  and  Hecataeus  are 
different,  and  therefore  we  may  well  luppoie  thefe  two  words, 
in  the  predicate  of  each,  to  be  different.  Herodotus,  fpeaking 
of  the  Persians,  fays,  they  had  no  ftatues  of  their  Gods, 
becaui'e  they  did  not  believe,  with  the  Greeks,  that  ^the  Gods 
had  human  natures  \_civ^cQ}'Ko'^vict.{\.  And  Hecatseus,  fpeaking 
of  Moses,  fays,  he  permitted  no  images  of  the  Gods,  becaufe 
he  did  not  hold,  with  the  genciles,  that  God  had  a  human  form 
[av6^i,'7rjfx,op<pop].  And  their  ufe  of  different  words,  as  we  ihal! 
now  fee,  was  with  accuracy  and  difcerument  j  for  they  were 
afferting  different  things.  The  quelbon  between  the  Perfians  and 
the  Greeks,  (who  worlhiped  many  gods  in  common  was,  whe- 
ther thefe  Gods  were  partakers  of  human  7iatwey  avSwTo^i/Ea?  5 
that  is,  whether  they  were  dead  men  deified.  Butthe  queftion 
between  Af.y^.f  and  the  gentiles,  was,  whether  the  God  of  the 
univerfe  had  a  hmnanfcrm,  «.'i6^-a'7ro//,oc^o{  :not  Vv^hcther  the  gods 
had  human  natures,  for  thefe  gods  the  Jews  had  nothing  to  do 
with  J  they  worlhiped  only  the  one  God ;  and  feveral  of  the 
gentiles,  wno  had  forne  knowledge  of  this  one  God,  imagined 
he  might  have  Sl  human  form.  So  that  we  fee,  the  ufe  of  thefe 
tvvo  terms,  on  the  fame  occafion,  is  fo  far  from  fhewing  their 
fignification  to  be  the  fame,  as  the  learned  writer  fuppofes,  that 
the  occailon  demonltrably  fnev/s  their  fignification  to  be  difie- 
rent.  Let  me  only  obierve,  it  appeared  fo  evident  to  Eufebius, 
that  thecuflom  of  making  the  ftatues  of  the  Gods  'va.  human  form 
Was  an  indication  of  their  original  from  mortality,  that  he  fays. 

Vol.  I.  H  myilery^ 


c)S'  The  Divine  Legation  B'ookL 

myflery  ^.  So  when  arts  and  civil  policy  were 
brought  into  Greece  by  Cadmus  and  Ceres  (the  firll,: 
though  a  Phenician  by  birth,  being  an  inhabitant 
o^  Thebes  in  Egypt-,  and  the  other,  though  coming 
immediately  from  Sicily,  was  yet  a  natural  Egyp- 
tian) then,  and  not  till  then,  began  the  cuftom  of 
deifying  dead  men  •,  which  foon  over-ran  all  Greec$ 
and  the  reft  of  Em-ope'^. 

2.  The  attributes  and  qualities  ajfigned  to  their 
gods,  always  correfponded  with  the  nature  and 
genius  of  the  government.  If  this  was  gentle, 
benign,  companionate,  and  forgiving;  goodnefs 
and  mercy  were  moft  efTential  to  the  deity  :  But 
iffevere,  inexorable,  captious,  or  unequal-;  the 
very  Gods  were  tyrants;  and  expiations,  atone- 
ments, luftrations,  and  bloody  facrifices  compofed 
the  fyftem  of  religious  worfliip. 
''  Gods  partial,  changefull,  pafTionate,  unjuft, 
"^*  Whofe  attributes  were  rage,  revenge,  and  luft, 

v  yi  Tot  «X»)6^  Soy^  &^^  *i  X£X^aff,-f(.ovova%I  (paivhuci<piiic^  9j>j|tf$ 
ely^^a.^  /xagrygwn  yiyovi*ui  Ty?  ^>!Xy,tt^«;.      Evacyl.  <afo'Ka^.  0,  y. 

$i  ^PoiKXEj  T£  xj  AirinTiOl,  tsa^'  "*  >i7  o»  Xomol  ica.^iha.€o»  at^pw- 

rg  xorl*  T»  iv  luoi^accvlcci  ma,  e6r>)'  <^£§7£T«;  T£  Taryj  kJ  'a^'KKiJv  aWmf 
ecyct^uv  viysfjS^oi,  w?  SsB J  crgoo-fxtu'Si'.  Philo.  Bibh  apud  Bufeb, 
Prtsp.  Enjang.  1.  ii.  c.  g. 

«■  Sir  Ifaac  Newton,  who,  probably,  had  irot-  this  matter 
an  his  thoughts,  hath  yet  a  remarkable  pafTage  to  this  purpofe 
in  his  chronology  of  the  Greeks:  "  Idolatry  (lays  he)  began  ia 
**  Chaldaa  and  Egypt.  —  The  countries  upon  the  tigris  and 
•*  the  mie  being  exceeding  fertile,  were  firfl  frequented  by 
"  mankind,  and  grew  firft  into  kingdoms ;  and  therefore 
"  began  firft  to  adore  their  dead  kings  and  queens :  —  Every 
"'  city  fet  up  the  worlhip  of  its  own  founder  and  kings,  and 
**  by  alliances  and  conquefts  they  fpread  this  worfhip,  and  at 
*'  length  the  Phanicians  and  Egyptians  brought  into  EuroPt 
"  she  pradlice  of  deifying  the  dead."  Pag.  i6i. 

.  *'SucIi. 


feed.  r.       of  Moses  demonftrated,  99 

<'  Such  as  the  fouls  of  cowards  might  conceive, 
<"And  form*d  like  tyrants, tyrants  would  believe  *" 

But  9.  Ihe  modz  of  public  worJJjip  was  alone  fuffi- 
clent  to  betray  the  mover  of  the  whole  machine. 
The  dbjetl  of  what  we  call  religion^  being  God, 
confidered  as  the  creator  and  preferver  of  a  fpecie* 
of  rational  beings,  the  fubjeEf  of  it  muft  needs  be 
each  individual  of  that  fpecies.  This  is  that  idea  of 
religion,  which  our  common  reafon  approves.  But 
now,  in  ancient  paganifm,  religion  was  a  very 
different  thing :  It  had  for  its  ftibjs5f  not  only 
the  natural  maji,  that  is,  each  individual  >  but 
likewife  the  artificial  man,  fociety  ;  by  and  for 
whom,  all  the  public  rites  and  ceremonies  of 
it  were  inflituted  and  performed.  And  whils 
that  part  of  pagan  religion,  whofe  fubje5l  were 
individuals,  bore  an  inferior  part,  and  was  con- 
fefled  to  be  under  an  unequal  providence,  the 
confideration  of  which  brought  in  the  doftrine 
of- a  future  ft  ate  for  the  fupport  of  God's  govern- 
ment-, the  other,  whofe  fubjed  was  the  artificial 
man,  fociety,  taught  a  more  equal  providence, 
adminiftred  to  the  flate.  The  confequence  of 
■which  was,  that  religioii  and  government  ran 
into  one  another;  and  prodigies,  and  portents 
were  as  familiar  as  civil  edids  -,  and  as  conftant- 
ly  bore  their  fhare  in  the  public  adminiftration : 
For  the  oracles,  without  which  nothing  was  pro- 
jefted  or  executed,  always  denounced  them  as  na- 
tional diredions ;  declarative  of  divine  favour,  or 
difpleafure  -,  in  which  particulars,  as  fuch,  were 
not  at  all  concerned :  So  that  to  accept  or  to  avert 
the  _  omen ;  to  gratulate  the  mercy,  or  deprecate 
the  judgment,  the  conftant  method  was  the  revival 
of  old  ritesy  or  the  inftitution  of  7jew.     A  reforma- 

f  Ejjay  on  Man, 

H 1^  lIo^ 


100  ihe  Divhie  Legation        Book  t, 

tion  of  manners,  or  enforcement  of  fumptuary- 
laws  never  made  part  of  the  Hate's  atonement  to- 
the  gods. 

The  oddnefs  and  notoriety  of  this  fa6l  fo  force- 
ably  {truck  Mr.  jS^y^'j- imagination,  that,  miftaking 
this  for  the  whole  of  Paganifm,  he  too  haftily  con- 
cluded, that  the  worfloip  offalfe  gods  in  the  ancient 
worlds  did  not  at  all  influence  morals  '  .•  And  from 
thence  formed  an  argument  to  fupport  his  tavourite 
queftion  in  behalf  of  atheifm.  This  was  a  ftrange 
conclufion:  For  though  it  be  indeed  true,  that 
tht  public  part  of  pagan  religion  had  no  influence 
on  morals,  it  is  utterly  falfe  that  the  private  part 
had  not :  For  in  the  do6trine  of  a  future  ilatc, 
which  was  the  foundation  of,  and  infeparable  from, 
this  founder  part  of  pagan  religion  whofe  fubje(5b 
was  the  individual^  the  merit  and  demerit,  to 
which  rewards  and  punifhments  were  annexed, 
was  virtue  and  vice  only.  This  will  be  proved  at 
large  in  the  fourth  feflion  of  the  prefent  book  i 
Though  I  am  ready  to  allow,  that  the  nature  and 
adminiftration  of  the  public  part  of  pagan  religion 
did  lead  individuals^-  into  many  wrong  conclufions, 
concerning  the  efficacy  of  exterior  ads  of  worfhip. 

But.  what  feems  to  have  cJccafioned  Mr.  Bayle's 
miftake  (befides  his  following  the  fathers,  who  in 
their  declamations  againll  paganifm  have  faid  a. 
great  deal  to  the  fame  purpofe ')  was  his  not  re- 

*  Pen/ies  dl'verfcs  fur  un  camete,.-  &c.  AtiA  Reponfe  aux 
^eftions  cCiin  Prcvincial.  And  Contitiuation  des  Penfets  di" 
*uerfest  &c. 

^  St.  Aujiin  himfelf  cannot  but  <nvn  that  the  MyJ}eries  "were' 
principally  inftituted  for  the  promotion  of  virtue  and  a  good* 
life,  even  where  he  is  accufing  paganifm  for  its  negleft  of 
moral  virtue  :  "  Nee  nobis  nefcio  quos  fufurros  pauciffimorum 
*•  auribus  anhelatos  &  arcana  velut  religione  traditos  jaftent^^ 
**  quibus  vitzeprobitascaftitafquedifcatur." — Civ.  Dei,  1.  ii. 
C..  6.  —  *'  Xidem  ipfi  Dasmonu  —  perhibentur  in  adytis  fuis, 

fie<fting 


•Sed.  il        ^/M  OSES  demonj rated,         loi 

.flefting  that  ancient  hiflory  "'"  only  reprefents  one 
part  ot  the  influence  of  paganifm,  that  which  it 
had  on  the  public  as  a  body  :  The  othej',  the  in- 
fluence it  had  on  individuals^  it  pafies  over  in 
iilence,  as  not  its  province. 

Whoever  now  confiders  the  genius  of  paganifm 
in  this  view,,  (and  unlefs  he  confiders  it  in  this 
view  he  will  never  be  able  to  judge  truly  of  it)  can 
hardly  doubt  but  the  civil  magiftrate  had  a  great 
liand  in  modelling  religion.  What  it  was  that 
enabled  him  to  give  this  extraordinary  call  to 
paganifm,  is  not  difficult  to  difcover :  For  what 
could  it  be  but  that  popular  difpofiiioji  arifing 
from,  and  the  neceflary  confequence  of,  thofc 
general  notions,  which,  by  his  invention  and  en- 
couragement, had  overfpread  the  heathen  world  ? 
As  I.  that  there  were  local  tutelary  deities,  who 
had  taken  upon  themfelves,  or  were  intruded 
with  the  care  and  protedion  of  particular  nations 
and  people-,  (of  which,  more  hereafter.)  2.  that 
-thofe  great  benefaftors  of  mankind,  who  had  re- 
duced the  Scattered  tribes  and  clans  into  civil  fo- 
■ciety,  were  become  gods.  3.  and  laftly,  that 
their  fyftems  of  laws  and  civil  inilitut-es  wereplan- 

^'  fecretifque  penetralibus  dare  quaedara  -bona  prjECepta  de  morl- 
*'  bus  quibuidam  velut  eleftis  facrat.s  I'uis  — Proinde  malignitas 
*'  da^monum  nifi  alicubi  fe,  qacmadmodum  fcriptum  in  nollris 
**  litteris  novimus,  transfiguret  in  angelos  luci%  non  implet  ne- 
*'  gotium  deceptionis.  i^oris  itaque  populis  celeberrimo  ftre- 
*'  pitu  impietas  impura  circumfonat,  &  intus  paucis  cailitas  ii- 
*'  mulata  vix  fonat:  prcebentur  propatula  pudendls,  &  fecre:a 
■*'  laudandis:  decus  ktet,  &  dedecuspatet,"  &c.  c.   26. 

^^'  What  ii  here  faid  of  the  genius  of  paginil'm  well  accounts 
for  a  circumftaiice  in  ancient  hiftory,  that  very  much  embaraffes 
the  critics.  They  cannot  conceive  how  it  happened,  that  the 
beft  ancient  hiftorians,  who  underftood  fo  well  what  belonged 
to  the  nature  of  a  compofition,  and  how  to  give  every 
•fort  of  work  its  due  form,  and  were  beiides  fo  free  from 
all  vulgar  fuperftition,  ihoaid  fo  much  abound  in  defcriptions 

>3  3  ned 


io2  7he  Divine  Legation        Book  1^ 

ned  and  digefted  by  the  direftion  of  the  legiflator's 
patron-deity  *. 

On  the  whole  then,  The  foregoing  confidera- 
tions  of^  the prefervaiion  of  religion  in  general ;  the 
i>rigine  of  the  pagan  Gods ;  their  attributes  •,  and 
t^t  mode  of  public  worjhip^  will,  lam  perfuaded, 
incline  the  reader  to  think  that,  for  the  univerfality 
ff  religious  belief,  the  world  was  chiefly  indebted 
to  the  civil  magiftrate  -,  how  much  foever  the  ille- 
gitimate or  unnatural  conftitution  of  particular 
Itates,  or  the  defedive  views  of  particular  law- 
givers, contributed  to  deprave  the  true  religion 
of  nature ;  or,  if  you  will,  the  patriarchal.  The 
learned  St.  Auftin,  who  excelled  in  the  knowledge 
of  antiquity,  feenis  to  have  been  determined  by 
this  way  of  thinking,  when  he  gives  it,  as  the 
lefult  of  his  enc^uiriesj  that  the  civil  magiftrate 
had  a  large  (hare  in  pagan  fuperftition.  His 
■words  are  thefe  y,  " — Which  indeed  feems  to  have 
"  been  done  on  no  other  account  but  as  it  was  the 
«'  bufinefs  of  princes,  out  pf  their  wifdom^  and 

(pf religious  tites  and  ceremonies;  and  in  relatipns  of  omens, 
prodigies,  and  portents.  Many  an  idle  hypothefis  has  been 
framed  to  give  a  folution  ofthis  difficulty  ;  and  many  a  tedious 
work  compiled  to  juftify  thefe  ancient  hiftorians,  upon  mere 
xnodern  ideas.  But  now  a  plain  and  eafy  anfwer  may  be 
given  to  it.  This  part  of  pagan  religion  was  fo  ijjterwoven 
with  the  tranfaftions  of  ftate,  that  it  becar;ie  cjhitial  to  civil 
hiftory.  And  how  much  foever  it  may  be  fupppfed  to  have 
deformed  ancient  ftory,  yet  the  Critic  and  Philoiopher  gain  by 
whatdifguits  the  delicacy  of  the  modern  Politician  ;  the  Greek 
and  Roman  hiftory  being  the  repofitory  of  all  that  concerns 
tlie/a*//V /)^r/ of  pagan  religion. 

*  See  the  beginning  of  the  next  fedlion. 

y  Quodutlque  non  aliam  ob  caufam  factum  videtur,nifi  quia 
hominum  principum  velut  prudentium  &  fapientium  negotium 
fuit  populum  in  religionibus  fallere  —  Homines  principes  ea, 
quas  vana  effe  noverant,  religionis  nomine  populis  tanquam 
vera  fuadebant  :  Hc^  mode  eos  civili  focietati  velut  ardtius 
^ligantes,  quo  fubditos polfideient.  De  Civit.  Dti,  1.  ivV  c.  32. 

^'  civi^ 


Se(fl.  2^    ofM.  o  5  E  s  demon/irated,  1 03 

•*«  civil  prudence,  to  deceive  the  people  in  their 
''  religion — princes,  under  the  name  of  religion, 
•*'  perfuaded  the  people  to  believe  thofe  things 
*'  true  which  they  themfelves  knew  to  be  idle 
*'  fables.  By  this  rne^ns,  for  their  own  eafe  in 
"  governrnentj  tying  them  the  more  clofely  to 
"  civil   fociety." 

But  if  now  it^lhould  be  obje6led,  that  it  was 
natural  for  the  people,  left  to  themfelves,  to  run 
into  any  of  thefe  fuperftitions,  we  may  readily 
allow  it  without  prejudice  to  the  argument :  For 
they  are  always  fuch  notions  as  are  apt  to  be  enter- 
tained and  cheriflied  by  vulgar  minds,  whole 
current  the  wife  magiftrate  is  accuftomed  and  prac- 
tifed  to  turn  to  his  advantage.  For  to  think  him 
capable  of  new  modelling  the  human  mind,  by 
7naking  men  religious  whom  he  did  not  find  fo,  is, 
as  will  be  fhewn  hereafter,  a  fenfelels  whimfy, 
whereby  the  atheifb  would  account  for  the  origin 
of  religion.  And,  when  it  is  feen  that  all  thefc 
various  modes  of  fuperftition  concurred  to  promote 
the  magiftrate's  end,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  but 
he  gave  them  that  general  direftion.  The  pfT- 
ikular  parts  of  gentile  religion,  which  further 
ftrengthen  and  confirm  this  reafoning,  are  not 
here  infilled  on.  Their  original  will  be  clearly 
feen,  when  we  come  to  ihew  the  feveral  methods 
employed  by  the  magiftrate  for  this  great  purpofe. 
What  thofe  methods  were,  the  courfe  of  the  ar- 
gument now  leads  us  to  confider. 

SECT.    IL 

T  hath  been  ihewn  in  general,  from  the  effect, 

^  that  lawgivers  and  founders  of  civil  policy  did 

indeed  fupport  and  propagate  religion.      We  fhall 

now  endeavour  to  explain  the  causes  oI-  tliat  efieft, 

ii  JL  in 


104  The  Di'vine  Legation        Book  If, 

in  a  particular  enumeration  of  the  arts  theyemploy-; 
ed  to  that  purpofe. 

I.  The  FIRST  flep  the  legiflator  took,  was  tQ 
pretend  a  mifllon  and  revelation  from   feme  God^^ 
by  whofe  command  and  diredion  he  had  framed 
the  poHcy  he  would  eftablilli.     Thus  Amafis  and 
Mneves^  lawgivers  of  the  Egyptians  (from  whence 
this  cuftom  fpread  over  Greece  and  Jfm)  pretended 
to  receive  their  laws  from  Mercury  •,  Zoroafter  the 
lawgiver  of  the  BcMrians^  and  Zamolxis  lawgiver 
of  the  GeteSj'ixom.  Vejla\  Zathrauftes  the  lawgiver 
of  the  Arimafpi^  from  a  good  fpirit  or  genius  ;  and 
all  thefe  m.oft  induftrioufly  and  profeffedly  propa- 
gated the  dodlrine  of  a  future  flate  of  rewards  and 
pimifhments.      Rhadamanthus    and    Minos   law- 
givers of  Crete^  and  Lycaon  of  Arcadia^  pretended 
to  an  intercourfe  with  Jupiter -,  Triptckmus  law- 
giver of  the  Athenians^  affe6led  to  be  infpired  by 
Ceres  •,  Pythagoras^  and  Zdcucus^  who  made  laws 
for  the  Crotoniates  and  Locrians,  afcribed  their  in- 
flitutions  to  Minerva  -,  Lycurgus  of  Sparta,  profef- 
fed  to  a6l  by  the  diredion  of  Apollo ;  and  Rcnmlus 
and  Numa  of  Rome  put  themfelves  under  the  gui- 
dance of  Ccnfi{s,  and  the  Goddefs  Egeria  "".     In  a 
word,  there  is  hardly  an  old  lawgiver  on  record, 
but  what   thus  pretended  to   revelation,  and  the 
divine   afHllance.     But   had  v/e  the  loft  books  of 
kgijlators  written  by  Hermippiis^  Tbeophraftus,  and 
Apollodorus^^  we  fliould  have  had  a  much  luller  lift 
of  thefe  infpired  ftatefmen,  and  doubtlefs,   many 
turther  lights  upon  the  fubjeft.     The  fame  method 
was  pradifed  by  the  founders  of  the  great  out  lying 

^  Died.  SlcA.  I    Ss  V,  Ephorus   apud   Strabonem,  1.  x. — 
ic^e  vereri    fcriptore  apud   Suidam   in  [At.jf»4vJ —  Jnji.  apud. 
:'cio/.    Pi::d.    aJx.    Qlymp. 
*  Atben.  I.  xiv,  i>,  haa-tim, 

^mpirss^ 


Bcdc.  2,  of  Moses  dcmonflrafed,  \o^ 
empires,  cis  Sir  IVilliam  Temple  caWs  them.  Thus 
the  firft  of  the  CJoinefe  monarchs  was  called  Fagfoiir 
or  Fanfur,  the  fan  of  Heaven,  as  we  are  told  by 
thejefuits,  from  his  pretenfions  to  that  relation. 
The  royal  commentaries  of  Peru  inform  us,  that 
the  founders  of  that  empire  were  Mango  Copac^ 
^nd  his  wife  and  filler  Coy  a  Mama,  who  proclaimed 
themfclves  the  fen  and  daughter  of  the  ^un,  and  lent 
from  their  father  to  reduce  mankind  from  their 
favage  and  beftial  life  to  one  of  order  and  fociety. 
Tuijco  the  founder  of  the  German  nations  pretended 
to  be  lent  upon  the  fame  meffage,  as  appears  from 
his  name,  which  fignifies  the  interpreter",  that  is, 
of  the  Gods.  Thor  and  Od.in,  the  lawgivers  of  the 
Weftern  Gotks,  laid  claim  likewife  to  infpiration  and 
even  to  divinity  ^  Tht  Revelations  oi  Mlahomet: 
are  too  well  known  to  be  infifced  on.  But  the 
face  of  thefe  infpired  lawgivers  feems  to  have  ended 
in  Genghizcan  the  founder  of  the  Mogul  trcnp'wt ''. 

Such  was  the  univerfal  cuflom  of  the  ancient 
world,  to  make  Gods  and  Prophets  of  their  firft 
kings  and  lawgivers.  Hence  it  is,  that  Plato 
makes  legijlation  to  have  come  from  God,  and  not 
from  man  ^     And  that  the  conflant  epithets   to 

^  Vide  Sheringham,  De  Anglorum  gentis  origine,  p.  86, 
«^  Oiim  quidam  magicas  artis  imbuti,  Thor  videlicet  &  Othi- 
nus,  obtentis  fimplicium  animis,  divinitatis  fibi  falligium  arro- 
gare  ccrperunt.  —  Adeonair.que  fallaciae  eorum  efFeftus  percre- 
buit,  ut  in  ipfis  caeteii  quandam  numinum  potentiam  veneran- 
tes,  eofqae  decs,  vel  dccrum  ccinplices  autumantes  vencficiorum 
auftoribus  folennia  vota.  dependerent,  "&:  errori  facrilego  re- 
fpeftumfacris  debitum  exaiberent      Saxo-Gram  1.  v\.  Hi/tor. 

^  lis  ont  attribue  des  revelations  a  Genghizccm ;  Si  pour  porter 
la  veneration  des  peuples  aulH  loin  qu'elle  pouvoit  aller,  ils  lui 
cnt  donne  de  la  divinite  Ceux  qui  s'intereflbient  a  fon  elevation 
eurent  meme  Tinfclence  de  le  faire  paffer  pour  iils  de  Dieii.  Sa 
rnere  plus  modeile,  dit  feulementqu'iletoit  fils  du  soleil. 
Mr.   Petis  de  la  Croix  le  pere,   Hijloire  duGevghi%can^  C.    I. 

kings, 


io6  *tBe  Divine  Legafwn       Book  II; 

kings,  in  Horner^  are  ATOrENEIS  born  of  the  Gods^ 
aiad  AI0TPE$EI2  hred  or  tutored  by  the  Gods  \ 

From  this  general  pretence  to  revelation  we 
may  colled:  the  fentiments  of  the  ancient  lawgivers 
concerning  the  ufe  of  religion  to  fociety.  For  we 
muft  always  have  in  mind  v^hat  Diodorus  Siculus 
fo  truly  obferves.  That  they  did  this,  not  only  to  be- 
get a  'veneration  to  their  laws^  but  likewife  to  ejla- 
hlijlo  the  opinion  of  the  fuperintendency  of  the  Gods 
ever  human  affairs  s.  One  may  venture  to  go  far- 
ther, and  fay,  that  to  ejlablijh  this  fuperintendency 
was  their  principal  and  dired  aim,  in  all  their 
pretenfions  to  inspiration. 

The  reader  may  obferve,  that  Diodorus  does 
not  fo  much  as  fufpeft  them  of  having  a  third  end, 
diflinft  from  thefe  two ;  that  is  to  fay,  the  advance- 
ment of  their  own  private  intereft.  And  this  with 
great  judgment.  He  knew  well  the  difference 
between    a  lawgiver  and  a  tyrant.     Such 

)4{im  ^tftOiVw;; ;  KA.  Qio;,  u  |e^e,  $£0f,  wj  yz  to  JjxajoTalon  £?- 
^uv.  De  Leg.  1.  i. 

Gv/jLoi    5    f^^V*?    tft    ^lol^f^B©^    ^acri>\.r,<^.      11.    B'.    J^     1 96, 

which  title  of  ^(0T^£(p£<^  is  not  given,  fays  Euftathius  on  the 
place,  to  fignify  that  fuch  a  one  is  defcended  from  Jupiter, 
but   that  he  receives  his  honour  and  authority  from  him. 

*E(ps^(iYlv<sCe<  ^lecri  AIOFENElI-  y^  AIOTf  E*EI£  tb?  ^aa•^^£K  h^lyei, 
vx  oV(  U  Aioi  TO  ysv©'  ihxtiffi,  a'XX'  ou  EH  EKEINOI  ATTOIS  H 
TIMH. 

i^cyUfuvLu  yifovivxi  itr'i  Ts  -^  Sseys'  «<^  ?  n^uuv,  OEkrai   (pxai.  'a^uTov- 

»^f  "^jj  fjuiyuv  Jtj  T(y  0'iii}  xoivoTolov  Tuv  ^]iYi^jOKiio[t,vjuv,  tz;§OiT'7ron)B^»a» 
•  i  auru  Tou  'E^fx*!»  ^i^unsvxi  TWTtf-;,    <J?  ^sya^wi'  dyec^uv  atxis;    Etro- 

©-^fic^  ^t  AaxeJa»ftov>oi?  At;;ca^ioV    tw   ^/)    tir^^  Ato?,  to»  ^s  tiTag* 

HtTt  t?^a^£oo')  T«To  TO  y/j/®'  Tvi  ETTii/oia.?  WTTasgfa*,  «J  tzjoXXoiv  aya- 
flwi'  arTio*  yueadxi  ToTi  tZTEK&el'criv  — — 

—  si'rs  kJ  ■ffrps?  T>}v  yTrepop/jji/  »t^  Svujxfjhiv  'P^  svpeTu  ?i£yoft?i'i/y, 
T»j  noftaj  «7roi?A£i)/av/a  tot  o%^ov,  ftaA^.ov  vTruKHJioiM  ojaXateovVj. 
L.  I. 

views 


Bed:.  2,      of  M  o  s  E  s  demonJIrafeJ.         107 

views  became  not  the  former ;  they  deftroyed  his 
charader,  and  changed  him  into  his  direil:  oppo- 
fite;  who  applied  every  thing  to  his  own  intereft; 
and  this  amongll  the  reft,  jirijiotk^  in  his  maxims 
for  fetting  up,  and  fupporting  a  tyranny,  lays  this 
down  for  one,  to  feem  extremely  attached  to  the 
worjhip  of  the  Gods^  for  that  men  have  no  appre- 
henfion  of  injujlice  from  fuch  as  they  take  to  be  religious 
and  to  have  a  high  fenfe  of  providence.  Nor  will 
the  people  be  apt  to  run  into  plots  and  confpiracies 
cgainji  thofe,  whom  they  believe  the  Gods  will,  in 
their  turn,  fight  for,  and  fupport ''.  And  here  it  is 
worth  noting,  that,  anciently,  'Tyrants,  as  well  as 
lawgivers,  gave  all  encouragement  to  religion  ; 
and  endeavoured  to  eftabliOi  their  irregular  wills, 
not  by  convincing  men  that  there  was  no  juft  nor 
iinjuft  in  adions ;  but  by  perfuading  them  that 
the  privilege  of  divine  right  exempted  the  tyrant 
from  all  moral  obligation.  Hence  may  be  ^ttn 
the  abfurdity  of  Hobbes^s  fcheme  of  politics,  who, 
for  the  fake  of  the  magiftrate,  was  for  eradicating 
religion.  But  the  ancients  knew  better;  and  lb 
too  did  fome  of  the  moderns  \ 

The  queftion  then  is,  whether  thefe  pretenfions 
of  the  ancient  lawgivers  were  for  the  fake  of  civil 
policy  immediately;  or  for  the  fake  of  religion  ; 
and  fo  mediately  only  for  the  other  ?  For  we  muit 
obferve,  that  v.'hat  is  here  fhewn  as  contrived  and 
done  by  the  magiftrate  for  religion,  was  not  done 
ultimately  ^.o^i  that,  but  for  the  fake  of  the  govera- 

"  "Et(  oi  TO.  CTJc?  tk\  ^:8i;  (partcrQai  di)  aTra^^c'ZuPiX  ^t3c(pffO'j]oj;, 
^lueaii)  r.Tlw,   u;  (ry^jix-zp^yi;  t';^',vlt  «,'  ra,;  Sta'?.    Polit.  1.  V.  C.   II. 

)  Et  Ron  e  cofa  piu  necefTaria  a  parere  d'havcre  che  quefla 
ultiinaqnalita  rreligione]  perche  gli  huoniini  in  univerfalegiu- 
dicano  pia  a  gli  occhi  che  alle  mani,  perche  toeca  ivedcre  aci- 
alcuno  Ji  ipntiie  n  poci-.i,  Muliavil  ddPrincipc,  c.  iS. 

ment. 


'ioS  It/je  Divine  Legation      Book  IL 

ment.  The  queftion,  I  fay,  then  is,  whether 
this  pretence  to  infpiration  was  made  to  eftablifh 
a  civil  or  a  religious  fociety  ?  If  a  civil  \  the  ends 
aimed  at  muft  be  the  reception  of  his  policy,  or 
provifion  for  their  perpetuity.  I  fpeak  not  here  of 
that  third  end,  the  fecuring  a  veneration,  for  them^ 
to  all  pojlerity,  and  for  a  good  reafon,  becaufe 
this  is  the  very  thing  I  contend  for,  fuch  veneration 
being  only  to  be  procured  by  the  influence  of 
religion,  the  peculiar  mode  of  which,  the  pre-  - 
tended  infpiration  introduces.  The  ends  then  in 
queftion,  are  reception  for  the  policy ;  or  provifion 
for  their  perpetual  obfervance. 

J.  For  their  reception,  there  would  be  fmall 
need  of  this  expedient,  i.  Civil  laws  are  {ttn 
by  all  to  be  fo  neceffary  for  the  well  being  of 
every  individual,  that  one  can  hardly  conceive 
any  need  of  the  belief  of  divine  command  or 
afliftance  to  bring  men  to  embrace  a  fcheme  for 
aifociating,  or  to  eftablifn  the  right  they  have  of 
fo  doing.  For  (as  the  great  Geographer  fays)  Man 
ivas  horn  with  this  inclination  to  affociate.  It  is  an 
appetite  common  both  to  Greeks  and  Barbarians  : 
for,  being  by  nature  a  civil  animal,  he  lives  readily 
under  one  common  policy  or  law  ^.  Befides  feveral 
of  thefe  legiQators  gave  laws  to  a  willing  people^ 
on  the  ftrength  of  their  perfonal  charader  of 
virtue  and  wifdom ;  and  were  called  upon,  to  that 
office,  in  which  nothing  was  wanting  to  beget  the 
neceffary  veneration.  And  though  it  might  pof- 
fibly  have  happened  to  a  people  to  be  fo  far  funk 
into  brutality,  as  to  be  difmclined  towards  the 
recovery  of  a  reafonable  nature,  hke  thofe  with 

Tli(^vK:-  yci^tiTU,      K«»  Komv  Iri   tsto  }^  Tor?''EXX5?£7»  x^  Tor; 
Eagteapoi;'    nsiiT^ilticot    yxp    u>Tff,    cLitl    'urcQfd[(Aiil'^    xoma    puffin, 

,$traboj  Gecgr.  1.  xvi. 

whon; 


Se£l.  2.     o/*  M  o  s  E  s  demonjirated,  IC^ 

v/hom  it  is  faid  Orpheus  had  to  deal ;  whom^  being 

lavages,  without  the  knowledge  of  morality  or  law, 

he  reduced  into  fociety,  by  recommending  to  them 

piety  to  the  Gods^  and  by  teaching  them  the  ways  of 

fuperjiition  ^ ;  yet  this  was  not  the  cafe  of  moil  of 

thofe  with  whom  thefe  lawgivers  were  concerned  : 

and  therefore  if  we  would  afiign  a  caufe  of  this 

pretence  to  revelation  as  extenfive  as  the  fact,  it: 

muft   be   that  which  is  here  given.     But,   i^'^\ 

we    find    that,    where    religion    was    previoufly 

fettled.,  no  infpiration  was  pretended.     On  this 

account  neither  Draco    nor  Solon^    lawgivers   of 

Athens,    made  claim  to  any  :    For  they   found 

religion  well  fecured  by  the  inftitutions  of  Tripto- 

kmus  and  Ion.    And  we  know,  that,  had  pretended 

infpiration  betn  only f    or  principally,  for  the  eafier 

introduftion   and   reception  of  civil   policy,  the 

fanguinary  laws  of  Draco  had  flood  in  more  need 

of  the  fanftion  of  a  revelation,  than  any  other  of 

antiquity.     Indeed,  Maximtis  Tyrius  goes  fo  far  as 

to  fay,  that  Draco  and  Solon  prefcribed  nothing  in 

their  laws,  concerning  the  Gods,  and  their  wor- 

fhip  "^ ;   which,,   if  true,    would   make  as  much 

againfl  us,  on  the  other  hand.     But  in  this  "he  is 

miflaken.     Porphyry   quotes   an    exprefs   law  of 

Dracoes  concerning  tlie   mode  of  divine  worfhip. 

Let  the  Gods  and  our  own  country  heroes  be  publicly 

worfhiped^  according  to  the  eftablifJjed  rites  \  when 

privately^  according  to  every  man^s  abilities^  with 

terms  of  the  greatefi  regard  and  reverence ;  with 

the  firji  fruits  of  their  labours,  and  with  annual 

'  —— "Ot«  9))^iwj«^  &►!«?  xai  avS^wTra?,  >g  &ti  e'Oi;,  «'t=  vojxsj    £?- 

Her  adit,   de  hicred.  c.   23. 

'"  fla  yx^  A9>)»ati'o*?  o-tiSfuWi,  t«  fASf  to  J.-jjfAcuci',  ■crw;  os  niJLviioi  5 

7*  vTTi^  auTus  yty^xfit,  v^l  ol  h^KKnil^ffti^Q)  kofww  Differt.  xxxix. 

libations ". 


no  The  Divine  Legation        Sook  Ili 

libaiions ".  Andocides  °  quotes  another  of  Solon^ 
which  provides  for  the  due  and  regular  celebration 
of  the  Eleujinian  myfieries.  Athenceus  does  the 
fame.  And  how  confiderable  a  part  thefe  were 
of  divine  worfhip,  and  of  what  importance  to  the 
very  elTence  of  religion,  we  fhall  fee  hereafter. 

2.  As  to  a  provi/ton  for  the  perpetuity  of  national 
laws  and  injiitutions  \  This  entered  not  into  the 
intention  of  the  old  Greek  legiQation  -,  nor,  if  ic 
had,  could  it  have  been  obtained  by  giving  them 
a  divine  original.  Amongft  the  wild  projeds  of 
the  barbarous  eaftern  policy,  one  might  find, 
perhaps,  fomething  like  afyftem  o{  immutable  laws ; 
but  the  Grecian  lawgivers  were  too  well  acquainted 
•with  the  nature  ot  man,  the  genius  of  fociety, 
and  the  vicilTitude  of  human  things,  ever  to  con- 
ceive fo  ridiculous  a  defign.  Befides^  the  Egyptian 
Icgillation,  from  which  they  borrowed  all  their 
eivil  wifdom,  went  upon  very  different  principles. 
It  direcfted  public  lav/s  to  be  occafionally  accommo- 
dated to  the  variety  of  times,  places,  and  manners. 
But  had  they  aimed  at  perpetuity,  the  belief  of  a 
divine  impofition  would  not  have  ferved  the  turn  ;■ 
for  it  never  entered  their  heads,  that  civil  inftitutes 
became  irrevocable  by  their  iffuing  from  the 
mouth  of  a  God-,  or  that  the  divinity  of  the 
fandtion  altered  the  mutability  of  their  nature: 
the  honour  of  this  difcovery  is  due  to  certain 
modern  writers,  who  have  found  out  that  divine 
authority  reduces  all  its  commands  to  one  and  th<^ 
fame  fpecies.     We  have  a  notable  inilance  of  this 

^a'kOi?  \tii[i'\oic.     De  Ahfl.  1.  iv.  §  2  2.  according  to  the  emen- 
dations of  Petit  and  Valentinus. — The  law  is  thus  introduced, 

o  Orat.  Uif] lAvr^^mt^pud Decern Orat, 


Se(^.3.      ^ Moses  demonftrated,  ill 

in  the  condudt  of  Lycurgtis.  He  was  the  only 
exception  to  the  general  method,  and  fingular  ia 
the  idle  attempt  of  making  his  laws  perpetual. 
For  his  whole  fyftem  being  forced  and  unnatural, 
the  fenfe  of  that  imperfedlion,  it  is  probable,  put 
him  upon  the  expedient  of  tying  them  on  an  un- 
willing people.  But  then  he  did  not  apply  divine 
authority  tothispurpofe;  for,  though  he  pretended 
to  infpiration  like  the  reft,  and  had  his  revelations 
from  Apollo^  yet  he  well  knew  that  Apollo's  autho- 
rity would  not  be  thought  fufficient  to  change  the 
nature  of  pofitive  laws :  And  therefore  he  bound 
the  people  by  an  oath  to  obferve  his  policy,  tiil 
his  return  from  a  voyage,  which  he  had  determined 
beforehand  never  to  accomplifh. 

Having  (hewn  that  there  was  no  need  of  a  pre- 
tence to  revelation,  for  the  eftablifhment  of  civil 
policy^  it  toUows,  that  it  was  made  for  the  fake  at 
religion, 

SECT.   III. 

THE  SECOND  ftep  the  legiflators  took  to  pro 
pagate  and  eftablilh  religion^  was  to  make  the 
general  dodrine  of  a  providence  (with  which, 
they  prefaced  and  introduced  their  laws)  the  great 
fan6lion  of  their  inftitutes.  To  this,  Plutarch^ 
in  his  traft  againft  Colotes  the  EpicureaUi  refers 
where  he  obferves,  that  Colotes  himfelf  praifes  it; 
that,  in  civil  inftitutes^  the  firft  and  moft  important 
article  is  the  belief  of  the  Gods.  And  fo  it  was  (fays 
he)  that^  with  vows^  caths,  divinations^  and  omens^ 
Lycurgus  fanclified  the  Lacedemonians,  Numa 
the  Romans,  ancient  Ion  the  Athenians,  and  Deuca- 
5ion  all  the  Greeks  in  general :  And  by  hopes  and 
FEARS  kept  up  amongft  them  the  awe  and  reverence 
f>f  religion  p.     On  this  pradtice  was  formed  the 

?  *!!::  hy^hx  (Ar,r  zi  yt  xj  KoKuTtii    iiTXm^  Siuivi^iuj;  rut   yo^a* 

precept 


112  I'he  Divine  Legation         Book  If. 

precept  of  the  celebrated  Archytas  tht  Pythagorean  j 
which  fed,  as  we  lliall  hereafter,  gave  itfelf  up 
more  profeiTedly  to  legiflation^  and  produced  the 
rnoft  famous  founders  of  civil  policy ;  This  law- 
giver in  the  fragments  of  his  work  de  lege,  pre- 
ferved  by  Stobaus,  delivers  himfelf  in  this  man- 
ner :  The  firji  law  of  the  conftitiition  Jhoidd  be  for 
thefupport  of  what  relates  to  the  Gods,  the  Damons 
and  our  parents,  and,  in  general,  of  what fo ever  is 
good  and  venerable  '^.  And  in  this  manner,  if  we 
may  believe  antiquity,  all  their  civil  inftitutes 
were  prefaced;  its  conftant  phrafe  being,  when 
fpeaking  of  a  legiflator,  AIEKOSMEI  THN  nOAI- 
TEIAN  AnO  ©EXIN  APX0MEN02. 

The  only  things  of  this  kind  now  remaining^ 
are  the  prefaces  to  the  laws  ofZALEucus  and 
Charondas,  lawgivers  of  the  Locrians  and  of 
the  Chalcidic  cities  of  Italy  and  Sicily,  contempora- 
ries with  Lycurgus'.  Thefe,  by  good  fortune^ 
are  preferved  in  Diodorus  and  Stobcens.  A  great 
critic  has  indeed  arraigned  their  authority;  de- 
clared them  fpurious ;  and  adjudged  them  for 
an  impofture  of  the  Ptolemaic  Age  \  And  was 
it  as  he  fuppofes,  the  fragments  would  be  rather 
itronger  to  our  purpofe :  for,  in  that  cafe,  we 
mull  needs  conclude,  the  very  learned  sophists 
who  forged  them  had  copied  from  the  general 
pradlice  of  antiquity :  And  very  learned  they  were, 

tas^uiTov  Irty  r/  'nr£^»  ^iuv  ^i^x,  >Cj  [/.(ytrov'   -p  x^  AvxSpy^  ActKe^set" 
T'.'wt  "EXT^.rivci^  o(A,H  rot  ti!a.v\ot<;  Kcc^ucuocrciv,  ev^ciTg,   >^  'opxot;,    >^  fjcctv 

q  Lit  ilv  \6yi'-v  Tec  tsi^i  Sss?  K^  ^aifx.ova?  xj  yo^ix^,  xj  oTiuj  7cJ 
xaAx  K^  T»(V(,ia -KTjwTa  TiOacrSai.    Stob.  is'if?  ^t"^.   Serm,   xll. 

»■  A  rift.  Pol.  xii. 

s  DiJJiri.  on  the  Epijlks  o/Thalaris,  'With  an  Jnfixer  ta  the 
chje^ions  of  Mr.  Boyle. 

appears 


Sedl.  3 .     of  Mo  s-ES  demonjirated,  1 1^ 

appears  both  from  the  excellence  of  the  compofi- 
tion,  and  the  age  of  the  pretended  compofers. 
Whereas,  if  the  fragments  be  genuine,  they  do 
not  fo  direftly  prove  the  univerfality^  as  the 
&ntiquit)\  of  the  pradice.  But  as  my  aim  is  truth, 
and  truth  leeming  to  bear  hard  againft  this  learned 
Critic's  determination,  we  muft  flick  by  tiie  com- 
mon opinion,  and  examine  what  hath  been  offered 
in  difcredit  of  it. 

The  univerfal  current  of  antiquity  runs  in  fa- 
vour of  thefe  remains,  and  for  the  reality  of  their 
author's  legiflative  quality.  Arijiotle^  Theophraftus^ 
"^ully^  Diodorus  Sictdus,  and  Plutarch^  the  moft 
learned  and  inquifitive  writers  of  their  feveral 
ages,  declare  for  the  common  opinion.  How- 
ever, Tim^us  thought  fit  to  deny  that  Zaleuais  had 
given  laws  to  the  Locrians;  nay,  that  there  ever 
was  fuch  a  lawgiver  in  being.  We  fliail  be  the  lefs 
furprized  at  this  paradox,  when  we  come  to  know 
the  charader  and  lludies  of  the  man  :  he  was  by 
profefTion  an  hifcorian,  but  turned  his  talents  to 
invent,  to  aggravate,  and  expofe  the  faults  and 
errors  of  the  preceding  writers  of  name  and  re- 
putation. Polybiiis^  Straboj  and  Diodorus  Siculus, 
three  of  the  wifeft  and  moft  candid  hiftorians  of 
Greece,  have  concurred  to  draw  him  in  the  moft 
odious  colours.  The  firft  fpeaks  of  him  in  this 
manner :  How  he  came  to  be  placed  amongd  the 
principal  zvr iters  of  hiftory^  I  know  not. —  He  de- 
ferves  neither  credit  nor  pardon  of  any  one  \  having 
fo  manifejlly  tranfgreffed  all  the  rides  of  decency  and 
decorum  in  his  excejfive  calumnies^  through  an  innate 
malignity  of  heart  ^\     This   envious  rabid   temper, 

^i^^rlii  sfA<l)'J]w  'OJUcAccK     Exterp.  ex  I.  xii.  Hi/}, 

Vol..  I.  I  joined 


114  The  Divine  Legation         Book  II. 

joined  to  a  perverfity  of  mind,  delighting  in  con- 
tradidion,  gained  him  the  title  of  EPITIM^US> 
the  calumniator.  And,  what  is  a  certain  mark 
of  a  bafe  and  abjed  heart,  he  was  as  excefTive  in 
his  flattery ;  as  when  he  makes  Timoleon  greater 
than  the  grentejl  Gods  ^.  He  took  fo  much  pleafure 
in  contradiding  the  moft  received  truths,  that  he 
wrote  a  long  treatife,  with  great  fury  and  ill  lan- 
guage, to  prove  that  the  bull  of  Phalaris  was  a 
mere  fable.  And  yet  Diodorus  and  Polybius,  who 
tell  us  this,  tell  us  likewife,  that  the  very  bull 
itfelf  was  exifting  in  their  time :  To  all  which, 
he  was  fo  little  folicitous  about  truth,  that  Suidas 
fays,  he  was  nick-named  rPACSTAAEKTPIA,  n 
eompofer  of  old  iinves  fables.  Poly  bins  informs  us 
with  what  juflice  it  was  given  him.  In  cenfuring 
the  faults  of  others^  he  pus  onfuch  an  air  of  fever  ity 
and  confidence^  as  if  he  himfelf  were  exempt  from 
failings^  and  flood  in  no  need  of  indulgence,  Tet  are 
his  own  hiftories  fluffed  with  dreams  and  prodigies y 
with  the  moff  wild  and  improbable  fables.  Infloort^ 
full  of  old  wives  wonders.,  and  of  the  lowefl  and  bafejl 
fuperffition  ^.  Agreeable  to  all  this,  Clemens 
^lexandrinus  gives  him  as  the  very  pattern  of  a 
fabulous  and  fatyric  writer.  And  he  appeared 
in  every  refpeft  of  fo  ill  a  chara6ler  to  Mr.  Bayle^ 
that  this  excellent  critic  did  not  fcruple  to  fay, 
that,  "  in  all  appearance,  he  had  no  better  autho- 
*'  rity  when  he  denied  that  Zaleuctis  had  given  laws 
"  to  the  Locrians"^ .^''     To  fay  all  in  a  word,  he 

^Suidas   in   Timao.    Ti/xat©' ^j  ft=i^w  rocttry  Tij«,o^s'ov1aTft;ti  Ittv- 
(pX'-iTa.Tuy  Qiuv, 

'yi/jjaiKu^e.  sr*  mM^vi .  Excerpt,  de  Virt.  ^  Fit.  ex  1.  xii. 

^'  El  apparemment  il  re  fut  paj  mieux  fonde,  quand  il  nia  que 
Zaleucus  eut  donne  des  loix  ace  pcuple,  [!es  Locn.^;:s-j 

was 


Sed.  3 .      of  Moses  demonjlrafed.  ii$ 

was  the  critical  historian  y  of  the  Greeks y 
and  yet  this  is  the  man,  whom  the  learned  writer 
hath  thought  fit  to  oppofe  to  all  antiquity,  againft 
Zaleucus^s  legiflation  and  exiftence.  It  appears 
the  more  extraordinary,  becaufe  he  himfelt  hath 
himfelf  furnifhed  his  reader  with  a  violent  pre- 
fumption  againft  Tm^us's  authority,  where  he 
fays  ^,  That  Polybius  charges  him  with  falfe  repre- 
fentaiions  relating  to  the  Locrians.  He  adds  indeed, 
that  7iothing  is  now  extant  that  Jhew!  Polybius 
thought  Timseus  mijiaken  concerning  Zaleucus.  But 
as  Polybius  quotes  a  law  as  of  Zaleucus^  it  feems 
a  proof,  in  fo  exafl  a  writer,  of  his  being  well ' 
fatisfied,  that,  amongft  T'w^^/^/jfalflioods  concern- 
ing the  Locrians^  one  was  his  denying  Zaleucus 
to  be  their  lawgiver. 

Tim^us's  reafons,  antiquity  hath  not  brought 
down  to  us :  But  the  fragnients  o^ Polybius  %  men- 
tioning his  outrageous  treatment  oxArifiotle  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  the  Locrians,  fpeak  of  one 
Echecrates  0.  Locrian^  from  whom  Tiin^us  boafted. 
he  had  received  information  on  certain  points  in 
queftion:  Hence  the  learned  critic,  as  it  would 
leem,  concludes  this  to  have  been  a  part  of  the 
Locrian*s  intelligence,  that  there  was  no  fuch  man 
{is  Zaleucus'^,  As  if,  becaufe  Timaus  relied  on 
Echecrates's  information  in  the  difpute  between 
him  and  Jrijlotle,  therefore  Echecrates  muft,  of 
necefTity,  fupport  all  his  paradoxes  concern- 
ing that  people.  But  admit  Echecrates  to  have 
been  of  the  fame  opinion  with  Timcms,  in  tliis 
itiatter  •,  Is  he,  who,  for  aught  we  know,  might  be 
as  lingular  and  as  whimlicai,  in  point  of  contra- 

y  See  Clarendon  and  Wh'ttlock  compared. 

Dijfert .vpor.V\i?\zx\z,  p.  .537. 
a    Excfrpta  ex  Polvbio  de  firt.  {3'  Fiiiis,  ex  1.  xii. 
"  r.   336.  £>':^^r/'r<;.^vPhaIaris.  '  ' 

I  2  difrlona 


1 16  'ihe  Divine  Legation       Book  II. 

di6lion,  as  'Timaus'Kim^tl^^  an  evidence  to  be 
oppofed  to  Cicero's  \  who  tells  us,  that  his  clients 
the  Locrians  had,  in  his  time,  a  tradition  of  Zaleu- 
cus's  legiQation  "  ?  And  we  may  well  prefume, 
that  Cicero,  inquifitive  as  he  was,  in  matters  of 
antiquity,  would  examine  this  with  care :  and,  had 
their  archives  reclaimed  it,  he  had  hardly  thought 
it  worth  his  while  to  mention  their  tradition. 
But,  fays  the  learned  critic,  //"Echecrates,  in  that 
age,  did  not  believe  there  was  any  Zaleucus,  he  is 
certainly  as  credible  as  Cicero's  Locrians,  who  came 
fo  many  generations  afterwards,  after  fo  many  revolu" 
tions  and  changes  in  their  government  ^.  This  reafon- 
ing  has  fmall  force,  becaufe  from  the  fame 
premifes  we  may  argue  juft  the  other  way,  and 
fay,  that  if  the  tradition  kept  its  ground  through 
all  thofe  changes  and  revolutions  of  ftate,  it  would 
feem  to  have  had  a  very  ftrong  foundation. 

The  authority  then  of  Timaus  againft  the  exif- 
tence  and  legiflation  of  Zaleucus  in  general,  is  of 
no  weight.  Let  us  next  fee  what  the  learned 
critic  has  to  urge  againft  the  genuinenefs  of  thofe 
laws  that  go  under  Zaleucus" s  name.  His  argu- 
ments are  of  two  kinds :  the  one  drawn  from  the 
dialect,  and  from  the  ufe  of  feveral  words,  which 
are  indeed  later  than  his  time ;  the  other,  from 
Zaleucus' s  being  no  Pythagorean, 

I.  The  W(7r^j  objedred  to,  are  thefe,— .A€;r7<xj 
^  ;r(5tp^£iaf— <(rOjU<A>f(7;oy— KoViMov— T^foj^/aif.  This, 
and  the  fragments  being  written  in  the  common 
dialed,  inftead  of  the  Doric,  are,  in  the  critic's 
opinion,  fufficient  evidence  of  the  forgery. 

He  has  employed  a  deal  of  good  ^  learning, 


*^  De  Legibus,  I.  ii.   c.  6. 

^  P.  336.  Dijirt.  upofi?\i2i\zvii. 

^From  p.  34610  356  of  the  Dijirt» 


P> 


Sed.  3 ,         ofyi  OSES  demonjlrated,         117 

to  prove  the  words  to  be  all  later  than  the  time 
of  Zaleticus. 

Let  us  fee  then  the  mofl  that  can  be  made  of  this 
fort  of  argument.  And  becaufe  it  is  the  befl;, 
approved,  and  readieft  at  hand  for  the  detedionof 
forgery,  and  fuppofed  by  fome  not  a  little  to  af- 
feft  the  facred  writings  themfelves,  we  will  en- 
quire into  its  force  in  general. 

It  muft  be  owned,  that  an  inftrument  offered 
as  the  hand-writing  of  any  certain  perfon,  or  age, 
which  hath  words  or  phrafes  pofterior  to  its  date, 
carries  with  it  the  decifive  marks  of  forgery.  A 
public  deed,  or  diploma,  lb  difcredited,  is  loft 
for  ever.  And  to  fuch,  was  this  canon  of  criticifm 
firft  applied  with  great  fuccefs.  This  encouraged 
following  critics  to  try  it  on  writings  of  another 
kind ;  and  then,  for  want  of  a  reafonable  diftinc- 
tion,  they  began  to  make  very  wild  work  indeed. 
For  though  in  compofitions  of  abjlra5f  /peculation^ 
or  of  mere  fancy  and  amufement,  this  touch  might 
be  applied  with  tolerable  fecurity,  there  being, 
for  the  moll  part,  no  occafion  or  temptation  to 
alter  the  diftion  of  fuch  writings,  efpecially  in  the 
ancient  languages,  which  fuffered  fmail  and  flow 
change,  becaufe  one  fort  of  thefe  works  was  only 
for  the  ufe  of  a  few  learned  men  j  and  the  princi- 
pal curiofity  of  the  other  confifted  in  the  original 
phrafe  j  yet  in  public  and  practical  writings  of  law 
and  religion,  this  would  prove  a  very  fallacious 
teft :  It  was  the  matter  only  that  was  regarded 
here.  And,  as  the  matter  refpeded  the  whole 
people,  it  was  of  importance  that  the  words  and 
phrafes  fliould  be  neither  obfcure,  ambiguous, 
nor  equivocal :  This  would  neceffitate  altera- 
tions in  them.  Hence  it  appears  to  me,  that  the 
anfwer,  commentators  give  to  the  like  objec-. 
tion  againft  the  Pentateuch^  is  founded  in  good 
1  3  fenfe^ 


Ii8  ^he  TXvhie  Legation       Book  II. 

lenfe,  and  fully  juftified  by  the  folution  here  at- 
tempted. The  religion,  law,  and  hiftory  of  the 
Jews  were  incorporated  -,  and  it  was,  confequent- 
ly,  the  concern  of  everyone  to  underfland  the  Scri- 
ptures. Nor  doth  the  fuperftitious  regard,  well 
known  to  have  been  long  paid  to  the  words,  and 
even  letters  of  fcripture,  at  all  weaken  the  force  of 
this  argument :  for  that  fuperflition  arofe  but  from 
the  time  that  the  maforet  coftors  fixed  the  reading, 
and  added  the  vowel  points.  I  have  taken  the 
opportunity,  the  fubjedl  afforded  me,  to  touch 
upon  this  matter,  becaufe  it  is  the  only  argument 
of  moment,  urged  by  ^'^iw^y^,  againft  the  antiquity 
of  the  Pentateuch,  on  which  antiquity  the  general 
argument  of  this  work  is  fupported. 

The  application  of  all  this  is  very  eafy  to  the 
cafe  in  hand  :  Zaleuciis's  fragment  was  part  of  a  body 
of  laws,  which  the  people  were  obliged  to  under- 
fland \  fo  that  a  change  of  old  words  and  obfolete 
phrafes  would  be  neceflary :  and  to  make  this  an  argu- 
ment againft  the  antiquity  of  the  fragment,  would 
be  the  fame  good  reafoning  as  to  fuppofe,  that  the 
remains  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  or  the  earlier  laws 
in  our  common  Statute  books,  were  the  forgeries  of 
later  times,  becaufe  full  of  words  unknown  to  the 
refpeftive  ages  in  which  thofe  laws  were  compofed 
and  enafted.  But,  indeed,  the  change  of  obfcure 
words,  or  obfolete  phrafes,  for  others  more  clear 
and  intelligible,  was  a  common  praftice  amongft 
the  Pagan  writers.  Porphyry,  making  a  colleftion 
of  heathen  oracles,  protefTes  to  have  given  them 
juft  as  he  found  them,  without  the  leaft  alteration  ; 
except,  fays  he,  changing  an  obfcure  word,  now 
and  then,  for  one  more  clear  :  a  praftice,  which, 
for  its  fairnefs  and  frequency,  he  ranks  with  amend- 
ing a  corrupted  word,  or  reforming  the  metre  ^. 

But 


Sefl.  3.     ofM  OSES  demonjirated,  119 

But  this  licence  was  not  confined  to  the  ancients  •, 
for,  being  fupportedon  the  reafon  of  things,  it  is 
likely  all  times  fhould  afford  examples  of  it.  One  of 
the  editors  ofFro/Jfari,  fpeaking  of  his  author's  text, 
fays,  "  touchant  le  ftile,  &  ancienne  maniere  d'e- 
"  fcrire  de  noftre  aiiteur,  je  ne  doute  point  qu'il 
**  n*ayt  efte  quelques  autrefois  change  &  aucune- 
"  ment  renouvelle  felon  Ics  temps  s." 

As  to  the  change  of  dialed,  the  great  critic  thus 
expreffes  himfelf:  "Tbe  lajl  argument  I  Jhall  offer 
againft  the  Laws  of  Zaleucus,  is  this,  that  the  Pre- 
face of  them,  which  Stobasus  has  produced,  is  writ- 
ten in  the  common  dialed,  whereas,  it  ought  to  he  in 
the  Doric,  for  that  was  the  language  of  the  Locri. 
—  The  laws  c/ Zaleucus  therefore  are  commentitious, 
hecaufe  they  are  not  in  Doric  ^. 

What  has  been  faid  above  fhev/s  this  argument 
to  have  fmall  force  ;  but  it  is  urged  with  a  peculiar 
ill  grace  by  the  learned  critic,  who,  in  his  Differ- 
tation  upon  Phalaris,  hath  difcovered,  that  Ocellus 
Lucanus  wrote  the  treatife  Of  the  7iature  of  the 
univerfe  in  Doric '^ :  and  from  thence  rightly  con- 
cludes, it  ought  to  be  acknowledged  for  a  gemmie 
work,  which  hitherto  learned  men  have  doubted  of, 
from  this  very  bufinefs  of  its  being  writ  in  the  com- " 
mon  dialeSf,  For  we  now  fee  that  every  word  of' 
the  true  book  is  faithfully  preferved  -,  the  Doric  beiiig 
only  changed  into  the  ordinary  language,  at  the  fancy 
of  fome  copier  ^.  Now,  furely,  the  rafli  fufpicions 
of  thofe  learned  men  in  the  cafe  of  Ocellus  Lucanus, 
Ihould  have  made  him  more  cautious  in  indulging 

;?   riPOE    TO  IA<J'ESTEP0N  METABEBAHKA,    n  to  /xsl^or  IMu- 

Porph.  apiid  Eufeb.  Prsp.  Evang.  lib  iii.  cap.  7. 
S  Denis  Siiunjfiae,   At'ertiftmejit  aux  Le^mrs. 
''  P.  135,  and  358,  'P.  47.  ''•  P.  49. 

I  4  his 


120  ^he  Dhme  Legation        Book  II. 

his  own.  He  fhould  have  conckided,  if  this  H- 
berty  was  taken  with  books  of  mere  fpeculation, 
it  was  more  hkely  to  be  indulged  in  works  fo  ne- 
ceffary  to  be  underftood  as  a  body  of-  laws ;  efpe- 
cially  when  he  had  obferved  (after  Porphyry)  that 
the  Doric  is  always  clouded  with  obfcurity  ^ 

Hence,  doubtlefs,  tra-ns-diakuiing  was  no  rare 
pradlice.  For,  befides  this  inftance  of  Ocellus  Lu- 
canusy  we  have  another,  in  the  poems  going  un- 
der the  name  of  Orpheus  :  which,  JamMichus  fays, 
were  written  in  the  Doric  dialect.  But  now  the 
fragm.ents  of  thefe  poems,  left  us  by  thofe  who  did 
not  write  in  Doric,  are  in  the  common  dialed.  It 
is  plain  then,  they  have  been  trans-diale^ed. 

2.  The  learned  critic's  other  argument  for  the 
impofture  runs  thus  :  The  Report  of  Zaleucus  being 
a  Pythagorean,  was  gathered  from  fome  pajj'ages  in 
the  fyfiem  of  laws  afcnh^id  to  him,  for  where  elfe 
could  they  met  with  it  ?  fo  that,  if  it  can  be  proved 
he  was  more  ancient  than  Pythagoras,  this  falfe  fiory 
cf  his  being  a  Pythagorean  beiyig  taken  from  that  fy^ 
Jiem,  tnujl  convict  it  of  being  a  cheat  •".  He  then 
proceeds  to  prove  him  more  ancient  than  Pythago- 
ras ;  which  he  does,  on  the  whole,  with  great  force 
of  learning  and  reafoning,  though  his  arguments 
are  not  all  equally  well  choien.  As  where  he  brings 
this  for  a  proof  that  Zaleucus  was  no  fcholar  of  Py- 
thagoras, *'  Becaufe  he  afcribed  all  his  laws  to  Mi" 
•*  nerva,  from  whom  he  pretended  to  receive  them 
"  in  dreams  :  which  (in  the  learned  critic's  opi- 
•'  nion)  has  nothing  of  a  Pythagorean  in  it,  Pbr 
**  Pythagoras''s  fcholars  afcribed  ever/  thing  to  their 
•'  mafter:  it  was  always  ouo'^g  i(pu  with  them,  he 
•*  faid  it.  Therefore  if  Zaleucus  had  been  of  that 
**  fociety,  he  would  certainly  have  honoured  his 

*P.  317.  •"?.  337. 

«'  maflcr 


Sed.  3»  of  Moses  demon/lrafed.  121 
*'  mafter,  by  imputing  his  laws  to  his  inftru6lions "." 
But  this  argument  is  of  no  weight  :  for,  i.  From 
what  has  been  feen  above  of  the  genius  of  ancienc 
legiflat.'on,  it  appears,  that  the  general  pra6tice  re- 
quired, and  the  nature  of  the  thing  difpofed  the 
lawgiver  to  afcribe  his  laws  to  the  infpiration  of 
fomegod.  2.  As  to  the  famous  io/'reV  sCpAr,  it  was 
not  peculiar  to  the  Pythagoreans^  but  common  to 
all  the  fe<5ts  of  Greece^  jurare  in  lerba  fnagijlri.  A 
device  to  keep  them  diftincl  and  feparate  from 
each  other;  and  a  compendious  way  of  arguing 
amongfi  thofe  of  the  fame  fchool.  It  would  then 
have  been  ridiculous  to  have  urged  its  authority  to 
any  out  of  the  fed-,  more  fo,  to  the  common 
people  ^  and  moft  of  all,  to  them,  upon  public 
and  practical  matters  •,  the  ajuivg  to  a.  being  ufed 
only  in  points  of  fpeculation,  and  in  the  fchools 
of  philofophy.  Indeed  fo  unlucky  is  this  argu- 
ment, that,  on  the  contrary,  the  reader  will  be  apt 
to  conclude,  that  this  very  circumftance  q{  Zaleu- 
cus^s  afcribing  his  laws  to  Minerva^  was  one  of  the 
things  that  gave  rife  and  credit  to  the  report  of  his 
being  a  Pythagorean.  And,  doubtlefs,  it  would 
have  much  weight  with  thofe  who  did  not  care- 
fully enough  attend  to  the  chronology.  For  Za- 
kuciis,  in  this,  might  be  thought  to  follow  both 
the  example  and  the  precept  of  Pythagoras,  who 
himfelf  pretended  to  be  infpired  by  Minerva;  and 
taught  it  to  his  fcholars  as  the  moft  efficacious  way 
of  eftablifliing  civil  juftice,  to  propagate  the  opinion 
of  the  Gods  having  an  intimate  inter courfe  with  man- 
kind °. 

But  notwithflanding  the  defeft  of  this  argument, 
the  learned  critic,  as  we  faid,  proves  his  point  with 
great  clearnefs,  that  Zaleucus  was  earlier  than  Py- 

"  P.  338. 

«  See  Jambllchiis's  Life  of  Pphagoras. 

thagoras  z 


122  ^he  Divine  "Legation       Book  II. 

thagoras:  and,  in  conclufion,  draws  the  inference 
abovementioned,  in  thefe  terms:  //  was  generally 
reported  Zaleucus  was  a  Pythagorean  ;  it  is  proved 
he  was  not.  'This  will  refute  the  hook  itfelf.  For 
if  any  intimation  was  given  in  the  book.,  that  the  au- 
thor was  a  Pythagorean,  the  impofiure  is  evident, 
*'  Jndyet  it  is  hard  to  give  any  other  reafon^  that 
**  fhould  induce  the  later  writers  to  call  him  a  Pytha- 
*'  gorean."  Some  impoflor,  therefore^  made  a  fyfiem 
cf  laws  under  the  name  <?/Zaleucus,  and  in  it  gave 
ii  broad  hint  that  he  was  a  fcholar  of  Pythagoras. 

Here  he  refts  his  point.  7/",  then^  it  be  not  hard 
to  give  another  reafon^  that  fioould  induce  the  later 
writers  to  call  him  a  Pythagorean^  his  long  difcourfe 
to  prove  Zaleucus  the  earher  of  the  two,  is  of  no 
kind  of  ufe  to  convift  the  pretended  laws  of  im- 
pofture.  I  have  already  hinted  at  another  not  im- 
probable reafon,  which  was  his  having  the  fame 
infpiring  Goddefs  with  Pythagoras :  And  this  will 
be  much  ftrengthened  by  this  confideration,  that 
Minerva  became  the  peculiar  patronefs  of  the  Py- 
thagorean lawgivers,  on  account  of  the  afhftance 
Ihe  had  given  to  their  mafter.  To  which  we  may 
add  thefe  further  circumftances,  that  the  laws  were 
in  Doric  (and  fuppofing  them  genuine,  they  cer- 
tainly were  fo)  which  idiom  was  peculiar  to  the 
Pythagoric  fchool^:   and,  that  the  whole  proem 

P  This  we  are  told  hyj arnhlkhus :  his  words  are,  y^iytlxi  th- 

MVv  cJ;  (fwv*)  ^prjcr^ui  ti)  'sra.lgoj cc  l)ioe.$-OK;  imx^rifyiXXov,    Vlt.  Pjthag, 

194.  Ktiji-  Ed.  Dr.  Bentley  underftands  them  to  fignify,  that 
e^very  one Jhould  ufe  hh  onvn  mother-tongue.  And,  indeed,  with- 
out reading  the  context,  one  could  fcarce  avoid  giving  this 
fenfe  to  the  paffage.  Vizxar.ius,  —  that  e'veiy  one  Jhould  ufe  the 
inother  tongue  of  Crotona ;  which  was  the  Doric.  Of  thefe,  the 
learned  critic  fays,  njohich  is  the  true,  perhaps  ail  competent 
readers  <willnot  be  of  one  jnind,  p.  386.  But  I  believe  there  will 
be  no  great  difference  of  opinions  amongft  thofe  who  weigh 
the  following  reafons :  i .  "J amhlichus  adds,  to  yx^  ^vjI^hv  yx  1- 
^oxi^a^oif  J  by  which  I  underltand  him  to  mean,  that  the?yi\ia.- 

of 


Seift.  3'  ^  Moses  demonjlrated,  123 
of  Zaleucus^s  laws  was  formed  agreeably  to  the 
precepts  of  Pythagoras  in  this  matter ;  who  dire6ls, 
that,  next  after  the  worfliip  of  the  Gods,  Damotiy 

^onc  feSl  did  not  appro've  of  a  foreign  or  f  ranger  dialeSl.  For  if 
he  meant,  not  the  feft  in  general,  but  the  particulars  of  which  it 
was  compofed,  the  feveral  provincial  Greeks  who  entered  into 
it ;  no  dialed!  could  be  called /"wyt^w  to  one  or  other  of  them  :  if 
he  meant  the  fed,  which  we  may  fuppofe  had  a  dialect  pecu- 
liar and  confecrated  to  the  community,  all,  but  that,  was  fo- 
reign to  it ;  and  the  expreffion  becomes  proper  and  pertinent. 
2.  Jamhlichus  in  the  fame  place  tells  us,  that  Pythagoras  valu- 
ed the  Doric  above  the  other  Greek  dialers,  as  mod  agreeable 
to  the  laws  of  harmony,  T-/jv  ^  i^anct-j  ^laAsxlon  Ivct^i^ona,)!  Vt)  : 
Now  having  made  the  effence  of  the  foul  to  be  harmony,  it 
v.'as  no  wonder  he  fhould  chufe  a  diale£l:,  which  he  fuppofed 
approached  neareft  to  its  nature ;  that  the  mind  and  tongue 
might  go  together.  3.  Pythagoras  feems  here  to  have  imitat- 
ed his  mailer  Orpheus,  from  whom,  as  we  fhall  fee  hereafter, 
he  borrowed  much  of  his  philofophy  ;  for  J amllichus  tells  us, 
that  the  old  v/ritings  that  went  under  the  name  of  Orpheus^ 
were  compofed  in  Doric.  4.  But,  laftly,  a  paflage  in  Porphy- 
ry^ s  Life  of  Pythagoras,  feems  alone  fufficient  to  determine  this 
matter :  Porphyry  giving  the  caufes  of  the  decay  of  the  Pytha- 
goric  philoibphy,  affigns  this  for  one,  that  their  commentaries 
ivere  ivritfen  in  Doric.  "'Zireiia,  oai  to  >^  xa  yi]^a.yi^i;c(,  Au^ioi 
yi^^ce'p^o'A,  p.  49.  Ktip.  Ed.  This  is  the  clearefl  comment  on 
the  words  in  queftion,  and  determines  them  to  the  fenfe  con- 
tended for.  One  would  wonder,  indeed,  that  fo  learned  a  cri- 
tic could  take  them  in  any  other.  But  the  fecret  was  this.  Dr. 
Bcntley  having  pretended  to  difcover,  that  Ocellus  Lucanus  did 
not  write  his  book  in  the  common  dialed!:,  as  it  is  now  extant, 
but  in  Doric ;  ( Dijfcrt.  upon  Phalaris,  ifjc.  p.  47.)  his  adverfa- 
ries  ( Differt.  examined,  p.  54.)  charge  him  with  having  ftolen 
this  difovery  from  Vizzanius.  This,  Dr.  Bently  flatly  denies ; 
( Difj'crt.  defended,  p.  384.)  But  the  only  proof  he  gives  of  his 
innocence,  is,  that  the  Greek  paflage,  quoted  above  {rovayam- 
blichus,  on  which  both  he  and  Vizzanius  had  founded  their  dif- 
coveries,  is  differently  tranflated  by  them.  "  The  thing,  as 
"  1  laid  it  (fays  the  Dr.)  is  thus;  the  Pythagoreans  txi)^Q\xi^^  all 
"  the  Greeks  that  entered  themfelves  into  the  fociety,  to  ufe  eve- 
*'  ry  man  his  mother  tongue  {(^luxri  y^,^Qn  tv)  mcclfua,.)  Ocellus, 
'*  therefore,  being  a  Dorian  of  Lucania,  m.uft  have  writ  in  the 
"  Doric.  This  I  took  to  be  Jamblichus^s  meanings  But  Vizza- 
**  nius  has  reprefented  it  thus  :  that  they  enjoined  all  that  came 
**  to  them  to  ufe  the  mother-tongue  of  Crc^ena,  which  was 

and 


124  ^^^  Divine  Legation      Book  II. 

and  Parent-^oriKn^  fhould  be  enjoined  '^.  Now, 
later  writers,  feeing  thefe  two  vifible  marks  of  a 
Pythagorean,  might,  witihout  further  reflexion,  be 
reafonably  difpofed  to  think  Zakucus  of  that  fed. 
But,  as  the  learned  critic  has  well  made  out,  from 
fure  chronological  evidence,  that  this  was  a  miftake, 
we  muft  feek  for  fome  other  caufe  of  the  uni- 
formity between  them  ;  which  I  take  to  be  this  : 
Zakucus,  when  Pythagoras  flourifhed,  was  in  the 
higheft  repute  mGreece'ior  legiflation ;  which  might 
incline  this  philofopher  to  imitate  him,  both  in  his 
infpiring  goddefs,  and  in  the  proem  of  his  laws : 
fo  that  pofterity  only  miftook  the  copy  for  the 
original.  This  they  might  very  well  cio;  for  Py- 
thagoras and  his  fed  had  foon  engrofled  all  the 
glory  in  fad  of  lawgiving:  and  this  leads  me 
to  another  probable  caufe  of  the  common 
opinion  of  Zaleucus*s  being  a  Pythagorean:  The 
charader  of  this  i^tCz,  as  will  be  feen  hereaf- 
ter, was  fo  great  for  legiflation,  that  after-ages 
thought  nothing  could  be  done  to  purpofe  in  that 
way,  which  had  not  a  Pythagorean  for  its  author. 
So,  befides  Zaleucus,  the  ancients  fuppofed  Cha- 
rondas,  Numa  %  Zamolxis  %  Phytius,  'Theocles,  Eli- 

**  the  Doric.  —  WhtthtrVizzanlus  or  I  have  hit  upon  the  true 
*'  meaning  of  yamhlichus,  perhaps  al!  competent  readers  will 
"'  not  be  of  a  mind."  The  diffidence  of  this  conclufion  would 
make  one  fufpeft  the  Dr.  was  now  convinced,  that  Fizzamus''s 
was  the  right  meaning.  Yet,  I  will  venture  to  fay,  that  the 
words  of  Ja?nblichus,  as  quoted  by  Vizzanius  without  the  con- 
text, would  have  been  underftood  by  every  man,  (killed,  as 
Dr.  Bentley  was,  in  Greek,  in  the  different  fenfe  he  has  given 
to  them.  From  whence  I  conclude,  that,  when  Dr.  Bentley 
wrote  his  DiJJertation  on  Phalaris,  he  had  feen  the  words  of 
Ja7nbtichu5  no  where  but  in  Vizzanius. 

"3  Mslss  Ij  TO  hiiov  T£  x^  TO  ^aifAJfio,  -ZB-^arj-iv  tscnii^on  TKoyot  yo- 
iiiiv.  yamb.  Fit.  Pyth.  C.  XXX. 

•■  Quinetiam  arbitror  propter  Pythagoreorum  admirationem, 
Numam  quoque  regem  Pythagoreum  a  pofterioribus  exillima- 
tum.  TuL  Tufc.  Difp,  lib.  iv.  c,  i.        »  Herod,  lib.iv. 

caon^ 


Se(fl.  3.    0/*  M  o  s  E  s  demonJIraUJ.  125 

caon,  ArifiocrateSj  nay  the  very  Druids^,  the  le- 
giflators  of  Gaul,  and,  in  a  word,  all  the  eminent 
lawgivers  that  lived  any  thing  near  the  time  of  Py- 
thagoras, to  be  inftruded  by  him.  But  will  the 
learned  critic  fay,  that,  therefore,  all  thefe  legifla- 
tors  were  imaginary  perfons,  and  did  not  give 
laws  to  their  leveral  cities  ?  This  notion,  arifing 
from  Pythagoras*s  great  chara6ter  and  reputation, 
was  nurfed  up  and  improved  by  his  followers  them- 
felves,  to  beget  honour  to  their  mailer ;  as,  in  fadt, 
appears  from  feveral  paffages  in  Jamblichus*s  life  of 
that  Philofopher.  So  that  was  there  no  more  in  ic 
than  this  j  as  Zaleucus's  inftitutions  were  in  great 
repute,  we  might  very  naturally  account  for  the 
miftake. 

But,  laftly,  it  is,  indeed,  very  true,  (as  the  learn- 
ed critic  fufpedted)  that  the  principal  ground  of 
the  report  of  Zaleucus  being  a  Pythagorean,  was 
from  fome  -paffages  in  the  fyjiem  of  lazus  afcribed  to 
him.  He  is  only  too  hafty  in  his  conclufion,  that 
therefore  thefe  mujl  needs  convict  the  fyjiem  of  a  cheat. 
What  hurried  him  on,  was  his  fuppofing,  that  no 
fuch  report  could  be  gathered  from  pafjages  in  the 
fyjiem,  but  fuch  as  muft  be  an  intimation  that  thr. 
author  was  a  Pythagorean :  and  that  there  is  no 
difference  between ^mV/p-  and  taking  an  intimation. 
If,  then,  this  report  might  be  gathered  from  paf- 
fages which  contained  no  intimation,  and  if  the 
r-eader  might  underftand  that  to  be  an  intimation^ 
which  the  writer  never  intended  for  fuch-,  the 
confequence  will  be,  that  the  credit  of  thefe  frag- 
ments will  remain  unfhaken,  though  we  grant  tiie 
learned  critic  his  whole  premifes,  and  all  tiie  facts 
he  contends  for. 

It  feems,  then,  to  be  certain,  that  die  report 
of  Zaleucus' s  being  a  Pythagorean  arofe  principal- 

'  Afnmian  Mar  cell.  lib.  xv.  09, 


126  The  Divi?ie  Legation        Book  II. 

ly  from  a  pafTage  in  his  fyftem  of  laws.  And  it  is 
not  difficult  to  difcover  what  it  was.  Zaleucus  in 
his  preface  fpeaks  of  an  evil  genius  or  Dcemon^ 
AAIMflN  KAK02,  as  influencing  men  to  wicked- 
nefs.  This,  though  a  notion  of  the  higheft  "  an- 
tiquity, whofe  origin  and  author  are  much 
difputed,  yet  became  at  length  the  diftinguiihing 
doftrine  of  the  Pythagoreans.  Plutarch,  fpeaking 
of  Pythagoras' s  opinion  of  the  firft  principle,  fays, 
that  that  philofopher  called  the  Monad,  God,  and 
Duad,  the  evil  genius'^.  Which  Duad  the  Pytha- 
goreans ufed  extremely  to  vihfy,  as  the  caufe  of  all. 
evil,  under  the  name  of  the  bad  principle,  as  P/«- 
tarch  Vsiowld.  make  us  believe".  The  application 
of  this  do6lrineI  fuppofe  Pythagoras  might  borrow 
from  Zakucusy  and  here  again  poflerity  be  millaken 

ya;)  rear  Alyvj/'htJii'  x^  ^vo  xar'  avTSi^  Tij  "^y^a-i;,  <x.ya.^ov  oxl[^ova,  x^ 
KAKON  AAIMONA.  Diog.  Laert.  Vit.  Phil.  Procem.  Seg.  8. 
Qvx.  oi^ct  (A.7)  ruv  riANI   tlAAAlSiN    iZv  xToTru-Tizlov  ocvayKx^a (A,iv 

Tot;  a.yu.^o7q  dv^fxan/  y^  ra7i  tu^oi^iaiv  a'urafAs^a,   T«()«%aV  y^  ^ots  j 

i'J  Tu  xu7,^  y^  dx.igono\y  ^lyQioi'^  iKtUm  f*oig«;  ft/la  r^»  Ts^iivlnv  to- 
XU(7iv.  Plutarch.  Vita  Dionis, 

71  tS  £vo?  ^yVij,  avTo;  o  vSi'  tt,v  ^'  di^i^ov  ^vuox,  AAlMONA  xj  to 
KaKON,  OT£(?i  r;v  eV»  to  JAixiv  ■r<^^?0®'.     De  Plac.  Phil.  lib.  i.  C. 

7.  p.  1624..  £.  S. 

^  Oi  fi  Tlv^Ayofixo)  oix  'r:7\eiovuv  cvo/^druv  Kacrr,io^tiai,  t«  f*^»  «- 
ya^ti  TO  %'■'  'anirig^okc-^ztov,  to  (Atfov,  to  dC^v,  to  'SJiptosov,  to  t/J^o." 
ywtoi',  To  d'slioi'.  To  ?vap.7r^ov'  tw  3  KAKOT,  r^>  ATAAA,  to  a7r«- 
gj'.',  to  <p!^oiA.ivov,  TO  y.at.ix7;v'KJV,  to  a^lfov,  to  ET£pcip.'/)>££f,  to  anerov, 
T»  a^trspt,  TO  cx^eivoi'  t's-?  TauVac  d^yd^  yii'ayiu:  v7roxe:iA.ivx(;, 
IlE^t  il.  xj  OSIP.  p.  660.  6'/.  £«',  I  fuppofe  the  reafon,  why 
£ivd<;  was  amongft  the  ill  names  faid  to  be  given  by  the  Pytha- 
goreans, to  the  bad  principle,  was,  becaufe.in  their  fuperftitious 
defignations  of  the  various  qualities  of  numbers,  the  Ai^a?  is 
very  heavily  loaded.  "Otj  ^'  fAEn  McNAi;  y-xVl  t«v  \!pi'rr!\a.  k^  to 
pirg^v  Az^Sc-isj"  >)  ^e  Avx:  xx(i'  vTTi^QoMv  }^  'ih^ef^iy.  Anc7i.dcVita. 
Pjlhag.  apud  Photium. 

only 


Sed.  3.       of  Mo  s  E 8  demonftrated.  127 

only  in  the  original  author.  However,  we  may 
colled  from  the  fame  Plutarch,  that  that  opinion 
was  cultivated  by  all  the  ancient  lawgivers.  For  this 
learned  man,  who  favoured  the  notion  of  two  prin- 
ciples, the  one  good,  the  other  evil,  affefts,  I  ob- 
ferve,  to  draw  every  ancient  writer,  who  but  men- 
tions an  evil  daemon,  into  his  own  feft.  In  his  treatile 
o^  Ifis  and  Ofiris,  he  fpeaks  to  this  purpofe,  "  Than 
"  it  was  a  mod  ancient  opinion,  delivered  as  well 
"  by  LEGISLATORS  as  divines,  that  the  world 
*'  was  neither  made  by  chance,  neither  did  one 
"  caufe  govern  all  things,  without  oppofition  ''.'*. 

This  notion  therefore,  delivered  in  the  proem 
ol  Zaleucus^s  law,  might  be  very  well  taken  for 
an  intimation  of  the  author's  being  ^Pythagorean, 
and  yet,  not  being  fo  given,  it  has  not  the  leaft: 
tendency  to  difcredit  the  compilation. 

On  the  whole  then,  I  prefume,  it  appears,  that 
the  credit  of  thefe  remains  ftands  unOiaken  by  any 
thing  the  learned  critic  has  advanced  to  the  con- 
trary ;  and  that  we  may  fafely  produce  them  as  of 
the  antiquity  they  lay  claim  to. 

Thus  Zakucus  begins  his  preface :  "  Every  in- 
"  habitant,  whether  of  town  or  country,  fliould 
"  firft  of  all  be  firmly  perfuaded  of  the  being  and 
"  exiftence  of  the  Gods:  which  belief  he  will  be 
"  readily  induced  to  entertain,  when  he  contem- 
"  plates  the  heavens,  regards  the  v/orld,  and  ob- 
"  ferves  the  difpofition,  order,  and  harmony  of 
♦'  the  univerfe;  which  can  neither  be  the  work 
"  of  blind  chance,  nor  ot  man.  Thefe  Gods  are 
"  to  be  worlhiped  as  the  caufe  of  all  the  real 
*'  good  we  enjoy.     Every  one  therefore  fliould  fo 

TO  •nray,   iv.   sij  ern'  o  Xf-xla'  y^  XcC.vJjviyv.^  u7ir-.p  ot'«5;v  ■/>  TJCt  O'^i- 

''  purify 


128  ^he  Divine  Legation         Book  II. 

*«  purify,  and  poflefs  his  mind,  as  to  have  it  clear 
*'  of  all  kinds  of  evil  -,  being  perfuaded  that  God 
"  is  not  honoured  by  a  wicked  perfon,  noraccept- 
*'  ably  ferved,  like  miferable  man,  with  fumptuous 
"  ceremonies,  or  taken  with  coflly  facrifices,  but 
*'  with  virtue  only,  and  a  conftant  difpofition  to 
*'  good  and  juil  aftions.  On  which  account, 
*'  every  one  Ihould  labour  all  he  can  to  become 
"  good,  both  in  praftice  and  principle,  whereby 
"  he  will  render  himfelf  dear  and  acceptable  to 
"  God  ;  fhould  fear  more  what  leads  to  ignominy 
«*  and  dillionour,  than  to  lofs  of  wealth  and  for- 
"  tune;  and  efteeni  him  the  beft  citizen,  who 
"'  gives  up  his  worldly  goods,  rather  than  renounce 
**  his  honefty  and  love  of  juftice ;  But  thofe,  v/hofe 
"  headftrong  appetites  will  not  fuffer  them  to  be 
*'  drawn  to  thefe  things,  and  whofe  hearts  arc 
«« turned  with  a  natural  bias  towards  evil,  whether 
*'  they  be  men  or  women,  citizens  or  fojourners, 
*'  fhould  be  told,  to  have  the  Gods  always  in  mind, 
*'  to  think  upon  their  nature,  and  of  the  judgments 
«  they  have  in  ftore  for  wicked  men ;  to  fet  before 
"  themfehes  the  dreadful  hour  of  deaths  a  period  they 
"  muft  all  come  to  -,  ijuhcjt  the  memory  of  evil  a5lions 
*'  -pafl  will  feize  the  finncr  with  remorfe,  accompanied 
*t  with  the  fruit lefs  wifh,  that  he  had  fuhmitted  his 
«'  actions  to  the  rules  of  jujlice.  Every  one,  there- 
"  fore,  fhould  fo  watch  over  his  behaviour,  as  if 
'<  that  hour  were  ftill  prefent  with  hirn^  and  attend- 
"  ed  all  his  motions :  which  will  be  the  way  to 
«  keep  up  in  himfelf  an  exact  regard  to  right  and 
*'juflice.      But   if    the    wicked    demom    be 

"  INSTANT     TO     INFLUENCE    HIM    TO    EVIL,     let 

'*  him  fly  to  the  altars  and  temples  of  the  Godsj 
"  as  the  furefl  afylum  from  that  cruelell  and  wick- 
"  edeft  of  tyrants,  Evil,  and  implore  their  aiTift- 
"  ance  to  drive  her  far  from  him.     To  his  end. 


Sed^.  3^     c/'  Moses  demonjlraied,  129 

^*  let  him  alfo  have  recourfe  to  thofe,  whofe  re- 
*'  piitations  are  high  for  probity  and  virtue  '^  5 
"  whom  he  may  hear  difcourfe  of  the  happinefs 
*'  of  good,  ^nd  the  vengeance  attending  evil 
«  men^'* 

One  would  wonder,  that  any  man.,  who  had  at- 
tentively confidered  this  admirable  fragment^  could 
think  it  the  forgery  of  a  fophift.  It  is  plain,  the 
author  of  it  underftood  human  nature  and  fociety 

*  Meaning  the  men  fet  apart  for  the  fervlcc  of  religion,  fuch 
as  Virgil  defences  in  his  Elyfiumj 

Quiquefacerdotes  cafti.  dum  vita  manebat  s 
Quique  pii  vates  &  Phocbo  digna  locuti. 
Which  not  only  fhews  the  legiflator's  fenfe  of  their  ufe.,  but  of 
the  neceffity  of  their  pradifing  what  they  teach  to  others. 
^   Ta?  )icoloi>cSv]x<;  r  vjoMv  icj  tiuj  yji>(^v,  tsa-vlcc^  to^wtov  -EreTrficrSat 

[/.t^(;[r,iixl&'    (TEloEcJai  3  TSTy?  s^  Tiix£v,    iv;  atria;  evla?  a7ra^^fc'^  rif^ti> 

^hf  h7  T  ewra  -^v^litj,  'Xoi^iUv  t^S  kxxu:v  yM^u.^/  uq  a'  Tt/iAo.^  ^ili 
VJT  dv^pJirs  (poiWhii,  a'oE  SspaTr^O's^  ocfTrctvcci:.)  acis  nr^aciuSicaq  'f^ 
€i\i<Tx.cf/yimf   y.<xMccTre^  jAo^^rjfoq  ccv&pto'rr®-^;   a,7\\'   oc^iirt    t^  'Vi^an^icr^ 

fi;  pjg>?fAa1a  i^ri^\a,-  (na^Xon  '^J'  £K   aiV;^j)i'^jy  teivovJwv*   ;^  'W'jS'i.tI/jj  a," 

<r3t;  "5  /*>!  ^dotov  <Cr^c?  rayra  -rioo  o.f.^i'  -ro'ETr.-Jwat,  tjjv  5  r^'Pi^  ^%" 
Serf  eu'xivjjlov  wgo?  a^iJcian  w^'  iifArv  OTa5r)f7£^9w'  ts'acrj  Tor?  To»aTotf 
'ETo^iTaK,  >^  CToAtTitrt  »t^  ^iuio'iKok;  jt'.sfAv55^a5  Sewii  wj  ovlwii,  >c^  Sixai 
c/TH'mi/.xovlciiv  Toi<;  cl^tKO";'  xj  Ti^icbca  is^o  ofjuadruv  tov  xatfov  TaTocj 
c*  oi  71VE3  '^°  Te^!^  ly.di-a;  <?  d'Kcc'Khst.yriC,  rs  Crtv,  'uTKcrt  yj  £f47ri7r](/ ftE- 
'^ai.'A'kHcc  Toii;  /it.E^^ao■^    TF^^1a.■.',   ^ifMn^tvoK;  uv  ot^'ui^xatrij   >{^  o^|i<.»7 

ikXT'')!/  'Cjpizz,}'/  «E(  <rt.tcotx«y!'  toi/  xaipov  Tarcr',  «?  o»j  'aa.^avlci.  am  yd 
ftv  i/,x>.trtx,  Ta  xa^a  >cj  ra  ^'ui^ta  ^f'^'^''*'^'    ^'''''  ^-'  ''"'?  '"^s^"'-?"^   A  A  I- 

fA.c'>'r,  jcj  TifAEiEcr:,  (^rcvyovloc  tIuj  ctdiXMv,  «;  SeaTroiveiv  aa-i^irdTri*  >^ 
p/«>>;7rf1aTv,v  htili^Jijila.  tVu  S^a?  c"w«;a9ro1^EV«v  fttiriAi'  i£»«i  os  Jtj  crpo? 
tzySrxq  o6£av  Ipjovio',;  Iw'  av'S^xiu^'ta,  djitisl fdf!^  •'Sify.  EJd«i|ttov:^  |3t'tfj 

ba'um,   5,:r»2.  xlii. 

Vol.  I.  K  At 


tjo  'The  Divine  Legatio?i     Book  IL 

at  arfother  rate.  He  hath  not  only  given  us  an 
exad:  portrait  of  natural  rehgion  *,  but,  in  applying 
it  to  the  ftate,  hath  explained  the  ufe  and  fubfer- 
viency  of  its  parts  to  the  three  great  ciafTes  of  man- 
kind. He  hath  recommended  the  intrinfic  excel- 
lence of  virtue,  and  comphance  with  the  Will  and 
example  of  the  Gods,  to  thofe  who  are  of  fo  inge- 
nuous and  well-framed  a  nature  as  to  be  always 
difpofed  to  embrace  truth  and  right :  to  others,  of 
a  icfs  heroic  turn  of  mind,  fuch  who  idolize  their 
honour,  he  holds  out  fame  and  ignominy,  as  the 
infeparable  attendants  of  good  and  evil  a6lions : 
and,  to  the  common  run  of  m^orc  intratflable  and  ■ 
perverfe  tempers,  he  preaches  up  the  dovflrine  of 
future  rewards  and  punijlwients^.  I  will  only  ob- 
ferve,  it  appears  to  have  been  from  hence,  that 
PoMPONATius   borrowed  the   beautiful   pafTage, 

•»  Some  have  afFe6led  not  to  under  Hand,  where  it  is,  in 
the  foregoing  pafTage,  that  Zaleticns  preaches  up  this  dodlrine. 
The  place,  methink?,  was  not  hard  to  lind  ;  it  is,  where  -ivic/ud 
men  are  bid  t(^fet  befc-re  themjelves  the  dreadful  hour  of  death. 
For  how  fliould  a  pifture  of  this  fccne  allure  men  to  virtue,  or 
deter  them  from  vice,  bat  a:  it  opens  to  tjiem  a  view  of  thofe 
rewards  and  punifhments  they  are  jull  going  to  receive. 
Hence,  too,  we  learn  what  thofe  hoprs  and  f  ears  \stxt,  which 
Plutarchj  in  the  paflage  p.  1 1 1 .  fays  the  ancient  la-jjgi-uers  im- 
prefl'ed  upon  the  minds  of  the  people,  to  keep  up  the  awe  and 
reverence  of  religion  :  for  Plato  ailhres  us  it  was  their  general 
pradice,  to  inculcate  the  diftinftion  between  foul  and  body  j 
and  to  teach,  that,  at  their  feparation,  the  foul  furvived  the 
body  ;  and  this,  fays  he,  we  ftiould  believe  upon  their  word, 
Unlefs  we  would  be  thought  to  be  out  of  our  fenfes.  —  •cnr^O- 

ety  o  uv  iC,  ToT;  NOMO©ETOT2''  TafO  aTw?  i'X.siv,  u'lin^  (a-i)  'SJot.ila' 
•rrxaw  «!p^ov£?  (pa.iiuv'^.  De  Ltg^.  lib.  xi.  But,  in  his  next  book, 
he  informs  us,  mere  at  large,  v^'hy  the  ancient  lawgivers  incul- 
cated tlmt  dijii/iclion.  it  was,  in  order  to  build  upon  it  the  be- 
lief of  a  future  fate  of  n^ivards  and  pufiij/jments  :  for  he  fays, 
the  lawgivers  were  to  be  believed,  v»hen  they  teach  the  total 
difference  between  foul  and  body,  that  the  tormer  is  immor- 
tal, and  that  when  it  is  on  the  point  ofdeparting  for  the  regions 
of  immortality  (v/hcre  it -mull  give  an  account  of  its  condufl 

which 


Sed.  3'    <?/  Moses  demonjlrated,  131 

which  is  quoted  at  large,  in  the  firft  book  of  this 
difcourfe. 

Thus  Zaleucus.    And  much  in  the  fame  fafhion 
does  Charondas  introduce  his  Laws. 

In  imitation  of  this  pradice,  Plato  likewife, 
and  Cicero  both  preface  their  Laws  v/ith  the  fan- 
(Stions  of  rehgion.  And  though  thefe  two  great 
men  were  not,  ftriflly  fpeaking,  lawgivers  in  form  5 
yet  we  are  not  to  fuppofe  that  what  they  wrote  ia 
this  fcience,  was  like  the  dreams  of  the  fophifts, 
for  the  amufement  of  the  idle  and  curious.  They 
were  both  well  praclifed  in  affairs,  and  deeply 
converfant  in  human  nature  •,  and  they  formed  their 
fpeculative  inftitutes  on  the  plan,  and  in  the  fpi- 
rit  and  views  of  ancient  legiQation  :  the  foundation 
of  Plato's  being  the  Attic  Lavjs  •,  and  the  founda- 
tion of  Cicero's,  the  Twelve  'Tables:  who  himfelf 
takes  care  to  warn  us  of  that  particular.  "  In 
"  imitation  of  Plato,  the  mod  learned,  and,  at- 
"  the  fame  time,  the  wifeft  of  the  philofophers, 
*'  who  wrote  befi "  of  a  republic,  and  likewife,  fe- 
"  parately,  of  the  law^s  thereof,  I  think  it  will  be 

in  the  body)  the  good  man  will  meet  death  with  courage  and 
conftancy,  and  tlie  evil  man  with  affright  and  terror.  And 
then  takes  occafion  to  mention  the  punilhments  referved  for 

the  latter  :  'zuii^iojav  ^'  ir)  ta  voiA,cMrvi  ■)^iu:  tec  TE  a^Aa;,  x^  hiyovli 
^V)(jriv  cr:oy.cPi<^  i/)  to   CTcsv   ^iac(pi^ii<TCiv'   — —  7&v   ds  ovla,  riy.av   'tKOi.fOV 

oucro^ac  ^oyoi',   fcuOd'Tn^  o  vom,*^  5  'HtxTfi^^T^iyH,   tcu  (/Lit  cx-yotXio  Sa^- 

TV)  lyiytslo '['^^  iy.flx  Tcv 'y,idh  piov.  And  here  let  me  obferve, 
tiiat  Plato,  in  the  words  rJ  ayaGJ  Sa|iaAe'o;,  &c.  feems  to  have 
had  the  very  palTage  of  Zaleucus  in  his  eye,  TiOc-cS-:x>  tzio  of/^iAci' 
Twj  To»  ««(Pcy  TB-rov  &c.  —  Eut  this  cavil  had  been  obviated, 
Seft.  I.  of  this  Second  Hook,  p.  88 

'^  I  read  here,  wiiii  Turnebus,  ^ui  princeps  de  rep.  ccnfcri- 
fjit.  Lambin  cbjefts  to  this  reading,  becaufe  we  gather  from 
Ariftotle,  tha.t  Plato  vjas  not  the  firfi  ^jA^o  n.K)rote  of  a  rtpuhlic^ 
he  fuppofmg  princeps  figniiied  primus,   whereas  it  means  opti. 

K  2  *'  proper. 


J 32  'fhe  Divine  Legation    Book  II, 

"  proper,  before  I  give  the  law  itfelf '',  to  fay 
"  fomewhat  in  recommendation  of  it :  which,  I 
**  obferve,  was  the  method  of  Zaleucus  and  Cha- 
*'  rondas.  For  their  fyftem  of  laws  was  not  an 
**  exercife  of  wit,  or  defigned  for  the  amufement 
"  of  the  indolent  and  curious,  but  compofed  for 
'*  the  ufe  of  the  public  in  their  feveral  cities.  Thefe 
"  Plato  imitated ;  as  thinking  this  likewife  to  be 
"  the  bufinefs  of  law;  to  gain  fomewhat  of  its 
"  end  by  the  gentler  methods  of  perfuafion,  and 
*'  not  carry  every  thing  by  force  and  fear  of  puniih- 


fKus.  This  was  Tally's  opinion  of  Plato,  as  may  he  gathered, 
from  many  places  in  his  writings.  And  in  this  fenle  \  urne- 
bus,  without  doubt,  underllood  the  word;  a  fenfe  familiar  to 
his  author,  as  in  Vcr.  lib.  iv.  cap.  49.  "  in  qua  [^Patrial 
*' mulcis  virtutibns  lI:  beneficiis  floruit  prin ceps."  BqC  the 
yfjord  primus  itfeif  is  lometinic:  uisd  in  this  fenfe  of  princeps  ; 
as  in  Virgil, 

Prima  quod  ad  Trojani 

^  "  Ut  priuiqua'm  ipfam  ic^^aK  fecitem,  de  ejus  legis  laude 
"  dicam."  This  pniTagf  is  not  without  its  difficulty.  If  by 
Lex  be  meant  the  v.-hclv;  fylkm  of  his  laws,  which  the  tenor 
of  the  difcourfe  lead.^  one-  to  fuppofe ;  then,  by  La  us,  the 
rcco?Kmauiat;or.  of  it,  we  arc  to  underftand  his  (hewing,  as  he 
cjoes  in  the  following  chapter,  that  the  Gods  intereltcd  them- 
selves very  much  in  the  obfervance  of  civil  laws;  which  im- 
plies, that  they  were  indeed  their  laws :  and  {o  Tully  calls 
them>  in  the  4'"  chapter  of  this  book  :  "  fta  principem  le- 
**  gem  illam,  &  ultimam,  mentem  efle  dicebant  omnia  ratio- 
*'  ne  aut  cogentis,  aut  vetantis  Dei;  ex  qua  ilia  lex  quam 
**  Dii  humano  generi  dederunt,  reCte  eft  laudata."  And 
the  (hewing  that  civil  laws  came  originally  from  the  Gods,  was 
tlie  higheft  recomm.cndation  of  them.  But  if  by  lex  we  are 
to  undcrftand  only  the  frfi  law  of  the  fylleni,  which  begins, 
*' Ad  Divos  adeunto  carte,"  o.c.  then  by  Laus  is  meant  his 
Jhewing,  as  he  doeslikewiie  in  the  following  chapter,  the  ufe 
and  fervice  of  religion  to  civil  focicty. 

'^  Sed,  ut  vir  dodiflimus  fecit  Plato,  atque  idem  gravKTimus 
philofophorum  omnium,  qui  princeps  de  republica  conicripfit, 
idemque  (eparatim  de  legibus  ejus,  id  mihi  credo  eile  facien- 
dum ;  ut  priufquam  ipfam  legem  recitem,  de  ejus  legis  laude 
cicam.     Quod  idem  ^-  Zsk'ucurn  U  Charondam  fecilie  video ; 

Here, 


Sed.  3.     c/'  M  o  s  E  s  demonj} rated.         133 

Here,  we  fee,  he  intimates,  that  Plato  and  him- 
ielf  had  the  fame  view,  in  writing  laws,  with  Za- 
leucus  and  Charondas  j  namely,  the  fervice  of  the 
public.  The  difference  between  them  was,  that 
the  two  originals  were  employed  by  their  country; 
and  the  two  copiefls  generoufly  undertook  an  of- 
fice they  were  not  called  to. 

However,  Plato  and  Cicero  are  the  greateft  au- 
thorities antiquity  affords,  and  the  moft  deferving 
to  be  heard  in  this  matter.  Plato  makes  it  the 
neceffary  introduftion  to  his  laws,  to  eftabliih 
the  being  and  providence  of  the  Gods  by  a  law  againft 
SACRILEGE.  And  he  explains  what  he  means  by 
facrilege^  in  the  following  words :  "  Either  the 
"  denial  of  the  being  of  the  Gods ;  or,  if  that 
"  be  owned,  the  denial  of  their  providence  over 
*'  men  ;  or,  thirdly,  the  teaching,  that  they  are 
**  flexible,  and  eafy  to  be  cajoled  by  prayer  and 
"  facrifice  ^"  And  afterwards  -,  "  It  is  not  of 
"  fmall  confequence,  that  what  we  here  reafon 
"  about  the  Gods,  fhould,  by  all  means,  be  made 
*'  probable  ;  as,  that  they  are  ;  and,  that  they 
"  are  good  ;  and  that  their  concern  for  juflice 
*'  takes  place  of  all  other  human  confiderations;- 
"  For  this,  in  our  opinion,  feems  to  be  the  nobleft 
*'  and  beft  preface  that  can  be  made  to  a  body 
*'  of  laws  s."     In  compliance  with  this  declara^ 

cum  quidem  llli  non  Jludii  &  deleftationis,  fed  reipublica;  caufa 
leges  civiratibus  fuis  rcripferant.  Qiios  imitatus  Plato,  videlicet 
hoc  quoque  legis  putavit  efie,  perfuadere  aliquid,  non  ojnnia 
vi  ac  minis  cogere.    De  Legg.  lib.  ii.  cap.  6. 

^  clKhd  tv  dri  Ti  <r  Tfiwv  OT^c^wv,  y>  Tyro  — 8^  »iyy «..>©'.,  »j  To 
JdOrE^Oii  Mac,  «  ipg^fl'i^eii  dvQ^uTTuv,  i  t^itov, -  Eti-v^^.^M-t-Qwa;  ?/}, 
Sv5-»aj;  71  >^  i'^yjxi^  Ss^^ii^<i[ju':vsc.   De  Lfgg-   lib.  X. 

i%HVj  i/;  Seo*  t'  EicTJ,  xj  a,yaMuiy  o-xxv  ri(A,u'JTci  ^tlff-PiPovru^  ccv^^u- 
irm'  O'xA^''  7^  tSto  ximv  uttsj  arrxvluv  t  v^ixut  koLkK^tov  T£  t^  apsj-s" 
STMoipttcy  »v  i'ir,.  id.  ibid, 

K  3  t4Jn, 


1^4  ^'^^  Divine  Legation     Book  IT. 

ticn,  Cicero's  Preface  to  his  laws,  is  conceived  in 
the  following  terms :  "  Let  our  citizen  then  be 
"  firft  of  all  firmly  perfuaded  of  the  government 
•*  and  dominion  of  the  Gods  -,  that  they  are  the 
V  lords  and  mafters  of  the  world;  that  all  things 
*'  are  difpofed  by  their  power,  direction,  and  pro- 
*•  vidence  •,  and  that  the  whole  race  of  mankind  is 
•'  in  the  higheft  manner  indebted  to  them ;  that 
"  they  are  intimately  acquainted  with  every  one's 
"  ftate  and  condition  •,  that  they  know  what  he 
does,  what  he  thinks  •,  with  what  difpofition  of 
mind,  and  with  what  degree  of  piety  he  per- 
forms the  adls  and  offices  of  religion ;  and  that, 
accordingly,  they  make  a  diitindlion  between 
the  good  and  evil.  The  mind  being  imbued 
with  thefe  opinions,  will  never  deviate  from 
"  TRUTH  and  UTILITY.  And  what  truth  is  more 
*'  evident  than  this,  thiit  no  one  fliould  be  fo  flu- 
*'  pidly  arrogant,  as  to  fuppofe,  there  is  mind  and 
*'  reafon  in  himfeif,  and  yet  none  in  the  heavens 
*'  and  the  v/crld  •,  or,  that  thofe  things,  whofe 
"  ufes  and  directions  c:.x\  Icarce  be  comprehended 
*'  with  the  utmoft  ftretch  oi  human  faculties,  may 
J"  yet  perform  their  motions  without  an  under- 
"  ftanding  ruler  1  Eut,  that  man,  whom  the 
•'  courfes  of  the  heavex^j/  bodies,  the  vicifritudes 
*'  of  day  and  night,  the  orderly  temperature  of 
•'  the  feafons,  and  the  various  bleffings  which  the 
"  earth  pours  out  for  our  fuftenance  and  pleafure, 
**  will  not  excite,  nay  compel  to  gratitude,  is  un- 
"  fit  even  to  be  reckoned  in  the  number  of  men. 
**  And  fince  things  endowed  with  reafon,  are  more 
**  excellent  than  thofe  which  want  it  •,  and  that 
**  it  is  impiety  to  fay,  ^luj  'parti ctilar  is  more  ex-' 
**  cellent  than  thtuni'vcrfdl  mxwxt^  we  muft  needs 
"  confefs  this  nature  to  be  endowed  with  reafon. 
**  That  thtie  opinions  are  like  wife  ufeful,  who  can 

"  deny, 


Sed.  3«    of  Mo %E^  demonjlrated,  135 

•«  ny,  when  he  confiders  what  ftabiJity  is  derived 
*'  to  the  public  from  within,  by  the  religion  of 
*'  an  oath  ;  and  what  fecurity  it  enjoys  from  with- 
*'  out,  by  thofe  holy  rites  which  affirm  national 
"  treaties  and  conventions :  how  efficacious  the 
"  fear  of  divine  puniffiment  is,  to  deter  men  from 
"  wickednefs  j  and  what  purity  of  manners  muft 
•'  reign  in  that  fociety,  where  the  immortal  Gods 
*'  themfelves  are  believed  to  interpofe  both  as 
*'  judges  and  witnefles  ?  Here  you  have  the  Proem 
*'  of  the  law  ;  for  fo  Plato  calls  it  ^" 

And  then  follow  the  laws  themfelves  -,  the  firfl 
of  which  is  conceived  in  thefe  words :  "  Let  thofe 
*'  who  approach  the  Gods,  be  pure  and  undefiled  5 
*'  let  their  offerings  be  feafoned  with  piety,  and 
"  all  oflentation  of  pomp  omitted :  the  God  him- 
"  felf  will  be  his  own  avenger  on  tranfgrefibrs, 

^  Sit  igitur  hoc  a  principio  perfuafum  civibus,  dominos  efTe 
cmnlum  rerum  ac  moderatores  Deos,  eaque  qua;  gerantur,  eo- 
rum  geri  vi,  didone,  ac  numine,  eofdemque  optime  de  genere 
hominum  mereri  ;  &  qualis  quifque  fit,  quid  agat,  quid  in  i'e 
admittat,  qua  mente,  qua  pietate  colat  religiones,  intuerij  pi- 
orumque  &  impiorum  habere  rationem.  His  enim  rebus  im- 
butje  mentes,  haud  fane  abhorrebunt  ab  utili,  &  a  vera  fenten- 
tia.  Quid  eft  enim  vcrius,  quarn  neminem  elTe  oportere  tarn 
Itulte  arrogantem,  ut  in  fe  rationem  &  mentem  putet  inefle,  in 
ca;Io  mundoque  non  putet  ?  aut  ut  ea,  quae  vix  fumma  ingenii 
ratione  comprehendat,  nulla  ratione  moveri  putet  ?  Quern 
vero  aftrorum  ordines,  quern  dierum  nofliumque  vicifiirudine.s 
quern  menfium  temperatio,  quemque  ea,  qua;  gignuntur  nobis 
ad  fruendum,  non  gratum  efle  cogant,  hunc  aominem  omnino 
numerari  qui  decet  ?  Cumque  omnia,  quse  rationem  habent, 
praeftent  iis,  qus  fmt  rationis  expertia,  ncfasque  ft  dicere  ul- 
lam  rem  prreftare  naturae  omnium  rerum  ;  rationem  ineffe  in  ea 
confitendum  eft.  Utiles  effe  autem  opiniones  has,  quis  neget, 
cum  intelligat,  quam  multa  firmentur  jurejurando,  quantse  fa- 
lutisfmt  fcederum  religiones,  quam  multos  divini  fupplicii  me- 
tus  a  fcelere  revocarit;  quamque  fantila  fit  focietas  civium 
inter  ipfo«,  Diis  immortalibus  interpofitis  tum  judicibus  turn 
teftibus.  Habes  legis  procemiura  ;  fic  enim  hoc  appellat  Plato. 
De  Legg.  lib.  ii.  c,;. 

K  4.  "  Let 


136  ^he  Divine  Legation    Book  II. 

Let  the  Gods,  and  thofe  who  were  ever  reckon- 
ed in  the  number  of  celeftials,  be  worfhiped  : 
and  thofe  likewife,  whom  their  merits  have  raif- 
ed  to  heaven  ;  fuch  as  Hercules,  Bacchus, 
iEscuLAPius,  Castor,  Pollux,  and  Romu- 
lus. And  let  chapels  be  erefled  in  honour  to 
thofe  qualities,  by  whofe  aid  mortals  arrive  thi- 
ther, fuch  as  Reason,  Virtue,  Piety,  and 

QOOD-FAITH'," 

SECT.     IV. 

THE  NEXT  ftep  the  iegiflator  took,  was  to 
fupport  and  affirm  the  general  doftrine  of  a, 
providence y  which  he  had  delivered  in  his  laws,  by 
a  very  circumftantial  and  popular  method  of  in- 
culcating the  belief  oi  z.  future  Jl ate  of  rewards  and 
funifroments. 

This  was  by  the  inflitution  of  the  Mysteries, 
the  molt  facred  part  of  pagan  religion  5  and  art- 
fully framed  to  ftrike  deeply  and  forcibly  into  the 
minds  and  imaginations  of  the  people. 

I  propofe,  therefore,  to  give  a  full  and  diftin^ 
account  of  this  whole  matter  ;  and  the  rather,  be- 
caufe  it  is  a  thing  little  known  or  attended  to: 
the  ancients,  who  wrote  exprefly  on  the  Myfte- 
ries,  fuch  as  Melanthius,  Mcnander,  Hicefujs, 
Sotades,  and  others,  not  being  come  down  to  us. 
So  that  the  modern  writers  on  this  il;bje6l  are  al- 
together in  the  dark  concerning  their  origine  and 
end  ;  not  excepting  Meurfius  himfelf :  to  whomj 

?  Ad  divos  adeunto  cafte  •  pietatem  ?,dhibento  ;  ofes  amo- 
Vento :  qui  fecus  faxir,  Deus  ipfe  vindex  erit.  —  Divos,  &  eos 
qui  ccelelies  femper  habiti,  colunto  :  &  ollo%  quos  endo  coelo 
merita  locaverunt,  HercuJem,  Librum,  yEfcuIapium,  Cafta- 
lem,  PoUucem,  Quirinuip.  Aft  olla,  propter  qus  datur  ho- 
fnini  adfcenfusin  ccelum,  mentem,  virtutem,  pietatem,  fidem, 
<;^rumque  iaud«in  ddubia  funto.  I^eUgg,  lib.  ii.  c.  8. 

hp\yever3^ 


Scdi,  4.    of  Moses  Jemonjlrated,  137 

however,  I  am  much  indebted,  for  abridging  my 
labour  in  the  fearch  of  thofe  paflages  of  antiquity, 
which  make  mention  of  the  Eleusini  an  Myjieries, 
and  for  bringing  the  greater  part  of  them  to- 
gether under  one  view  ^ 

To  avoid  ambiguity,  it  will  be  proper  to  explain 
the  term.  Each  of  the  pagan  Gods  had  (befides 
the  public  and  open)  a  fecret  zvorjhip^  paid  unto 
him  :  to  which  none  were  admitted  but  thofe 
who  had  been  felefted  by  preparatory  ceremonies, 
called  INITIATION.  T\i\^  fecret  worjhip  was  term- 
ed the  Mysteries. 

But  though  every  God  had,  befides  his  open 
worfhip,  the  fecret  likewife;  yet  this  latter  did 
not  every  where  attend  the  former  j  but  only  there, 
where  he  was  the  patron  God,  or  in  principal 
efteem.  Thus,  when  in  confequence  of  that  in- 
tercommunity of  paganifm,  which  will  be  explain- 
ed hereafter,  one  nation  adopted  the  Gods  of  an^ 
other,  they  did  not  always  take  in  at  the  fame 
time,  the  fecret  worpip  or  Myfleries  of  that  God  ; 
fo,  in  Rome,  the  public  and  open  worfhip  of 
Bacchus  was  in  ufe  long  before  his  myfteries  were 
admitted.  But,  on  the  other  hand  again,  the 
worfhip  of  the  ftrange  God  was  fometimes 
introduced  only  for  the  fake  of  his  Myfieries  :  as, 
in  the  fame  city,  that  of  Ifis  and  Ofiris.  Thus 
flood  the  cafe  in  general,  the  particular  exceptions 
to  it,  will  be  feen  in  the  fequel  of  this  diiferta- 
tion, 

^  Eleufinia  :  Jive  de  Cereris  Eleujha  facro. 
^Strabo,  in  his  tenth  book  of  his  Geography,  p.  716.  Gron. 
Ed,   writes  thus  :    KGti-t»  ,5"^  'xnto,  x^  ^  '^7.y^n  ui  y^  r  ^a^Qcifuv  er», 

TAX  MEN  MXI,TitfsilZf  TAS  ^E  EN  <I>ANEri2»-  ^'  t^9' ij  (pvaii 

The 


138  l^he  Divine  Legation     Booit  II. 

The  firfl  and  original  Myjieries,  of  which  we 
have  any  fure  account,  were  thofe  of  Ifis  and  Ofi- 
ris  in  Egypt  ;  from  whence  they  were  derived  to 
the  Greeks"^,  under  the  prefidency  of  various 
Gods",  as  the  inftitutor  thought  moft  for  his  pur- 
pofe  :  Zoroafter  brought  them  into  Perfia ;  Cad- 
mus and  Inachus  into  Greece  at  large  ° ;  Orpheus 
into  Thrace;  Melampus  into  Argis ;  Trophonius 
into  Bceotia ;  Minos  into  Crete-,  Cinyras  into  Cy- 
prus ;  and  Erechtheus  into  Athens.  And  as  in 
Egypt  they  were  to  Ifis  and  Ofiris ;  fo  in  Afia  they 
were  to  Mithras  •,  in  Samothrace  to  the  Mother  of 
the  Gods ;  in  Bceotia  to  Bacchus ;  in  Cyprus  to 
Venus ;  in  Crete  to  Jupiter  ♦,  in  Athens  to  Ceres 
and  Proferpjne  •,  in  AmphiiTa  to  Caftor  and  Pol- 
lux ;  in  Lemnus  to  Vulcan,  and  fo  to  others,  in 
other  places,  the  number  of  which  was  incredible  p. 

But  their  end,  as  well  as  nature,  was  the  fame  in 
all ;  to  teach  the  doflrine  of  a  future  state.  In 
this,  Origen  and  Celfus  agree  •,  the  two  moft  learn- 
ed writers  of  their  feveral  parties.  The  firft,  mind- 

"  Diod.Sic.  lib.i. 

^i'A'v,   >^  Tuv  'EMhcinuv  tx<i  ri'Kflx';    O^^tJO;,  atr,^   Odprj;;,  sj:  Ta? 

T»  *0ai^»^(^  El?  ra  rvi  Ar;a,-  >^  tS  Aiowaa  1/i-fioi.Tc^siKiv  cl^iia.  Theo- 
doretus,  Therapeut.  i. 

cr^sTigji/ ■n7«p' AimiTlOir,  xj  nr^^  ''vpv^i,  jc^  ^oi;i|i,  y^  BaCu- 
Jifc'sioir,  KCtKUi  c/Tii  ivoxijCiyx  iJi{live)(Ji£t']!X  t-  si:  fe?.>.>;vj;  icn)  rr.i  7jjt 
AirTnTIiiN  X'^i^-''  ""'"'^  *>-"'=V**  ^i;  aJrtf  t><  'Udx^.  'Atti^!^  ^fo- 
rto!))i  x.\n^ifi^,  rl  olxoocu.ncrayi'S^  7j).  fAiu^i-j.  Epiphan.  adv.  H-^r. 
lib.  i. 

P  Poftulat  quidem  magnitudo  materia,  atque  ipflusdefcnfu)- 
nis  ofncium,  ut  iinaliter  csteras  turpitudmum  fpecles  perlequa- 
,^niur:  vei  quas  produnt  antiquitati.i  hiiloris,  vel  ni)  ileria  ilia 
continent  facra,  quibus  initiis  norncn  eft,  &  quje  r.on  omnib^us 
vulgo,  fed  paiKorum  taciturnira:'bus  tradi  licet.  Scd  Sacroru^/} 
invvmeri  riiits,  atque  afHxa  detormitas  nnguli^,  corporaliter 
crohibet  univerfa  nos  exeoui  Ainob  ndv  Ci?ifes,\ik  v.  p  f68. 

inK 


Sefl.  4."     of  Moses  demonjlrafed,  139 

ing  his  adverfary  of  the  difference  between  the 
future  life  promifed  by  chriftianity,  and  that  taught 
in  paganifm,  bids  him  compare  the  chriftian  with 
what  all  the  fe6ts  of  philofophy,  and  all  the  My- 
fieries,  amongfl  Greeks  and  Barbarians,  taught 
concerning  it  '^ :  and  Celfus,  in  his  turn,  endea- 
vouring to  fhew  that  chriftianity  had  no  advantage 
over  paganifm  in  the  efficacy  of  ftronger  fandtions, 
expreffes  himfelf  to  this  purpofe  5  "  But  now,  af- 
"  ter  all,  juft  as  you  believe  eternal  punilhments, 
**  fo  do  the  minifters  of  the  facred  rites,  and  thofe 
*'  who  initiate  into,  and  prefide  in  the  myfte- 
«  ries^" 

They  continued  long  in  religious  reverence : 
fome  were  more  famous  and  more  extenfive  than 
•others  ;  to  which  many  accidents  concurred.  The 
moft  noted  were  the  Orphic,  the  Bacchic,  the 
Eleusinian,  the  Samothracian,  the  Cabi- 
Ric,    and  the  Mithriac. 

Euripides  makes  Bacchus  fay,  in  his  tragedy  of 
that  name  *",  that  the  Orgies  were  celebrated  by  all 
foreign  nations,  and  that  he  came  to  introduce 
them  amongft  the  Greeks.  And  it  is  not  impro- 
bable, but  feveral  barbarous  nations  might  have 
learned  them  of  the  Egyptians  long  before  they 
came  into  Greece.  The  Druids  of  Britain,  who 
had,  as  well  as  the  Brachmans  of  India,  divers  of 

MTfXTHPinAH.  Orig.  cont.  Cel/.Yib.  iii.  p.  160.  Sp.  Ed. 

o*  T  U^uvlziituv  i^-rifnTxl  Ti\ira.lr£  1^  lJt,vr^fi^yo'',  lib.  viii.  p  408. 
And  that  nothing  very  heterodox  was  taught  in  the  myfteries 
concerning  a  future  ftate,  I  colledl  from  the  anfvver  Origea 
makes  to  Celfus,  who  had  preferred  what  was  taught  in  the 
myfteries  of  Bacchus  on  that  point,  to  what  the  Chrillian  Re- 
ligion revealed  concerning  it  —  ^e-l  p:  Sv  twv  aan^muv  nXpM* 
fin  rU  irt  OTtSavcf  Aoy©^,  {in  //7}5ii;  TctST!^  — lib.  iv.   p.  1 67. 

i'  Aft.  II. 

their 


140  'The  Divine  Legation    Book  IT; 

their  religious  rites  from  thence,  celebrated  the 
Orgies  of  Bacchus,  as  we  learn  from  Dionyfius  the 
african.  And  Strabo  having  quoted  Artemidorus 
for  a  fabulous  ftory,  fubjoins,  "  But  what  he  fays 
"  of  Ceres  and  Proferpine  is  more  credible,  namely, 
*'  that  there  is  an  idand  near  Britain,  where  they 
•'  perform  the  fame  rites  to  thofe  two  GoddeiTes 
*'  as  are  ufed  in  Samothrace  ',"  But,  of  all  the 
Myjleries^  thofe  which  bore  that  name,  by  way  of 
eminence,  the  Eleusinian,  celebrated  at  Athens 
in  honour  of  Ceres,  were  by  far  the  moft  renown- 
ed i  and,  in  procefs  of  time,  eclipfed,  and,  as  it 
were,  fwallowed  up  the  reft.  Their  neighbours 
round  about  very  early  pradlifed  thefe  Myjieries  to 
the  negleft  of  their  own :  in  a  little  time  all 
Greece  and  Afia  Minor  were  initiated  into  them  : 
and  at  length  they  fpread  over  the  whole  Roman 
empire,  and  even  beyond  the  limits  of  it.  *'  1  infift 
*'  not  (faysTully)  on  thofe  facred  and  auguft  rites 
*'  of  Eleusis,  where,  from  the  rem.oteft  regions, 
*'  men  come  to  be  initiated ' ."  And  we  are  told 
in  Zofimus,  that  "  thefe  moft  holy  rites  were  then 
"  fo  extenfive,  as  to  take  in  the  whole  race  of  man- 
"  kind"^."  Ariftides  calls  Eleufis  the  commo7i  temple 
cf  the  earth  ^.  And  Paufanias  fays,  the  rites  per- 
formed there  as  much  excelled  all  other  rites,  in-^ 
llituted  for  the  promotion  of  piety,  as  the  Gods 
excelled  the  heroes  y. 


iff-BV 


fA,Yil^ccv  x^  T-ziv  Kjp-!'  I^.^'^ttchTtch.   Strabonis  Gcogr.  lib.  iv.     The 
nature  of  thefe  Samothracig-n  rites  is  explained  afterwards. 

*  Omitto  Eleusin  AM    fanctam  ii!ani  &  aiiguftam;  vibi  in- 
itiantur  gentes  orarum  ultimo,    l^nt.  Deor.  lib.  i. 

^'   la,   ai'VEp^ovJo  vo  ^-.^^wttho-j  »^^j^  (/^yturcAa  p-t'f »;.^«x.     lib.  IV. 
'^  "Oric  iJ  x&icoD  Tt  T>i5  yr,(i  Ti(i%>^  r  'Y.7\A)y'i-ia  iyuTo.     AnflidjS 
^leuftma. 


Sc(5lt  4*     ?/  Moses  demorJlrated.  141 

How  this  happened,  is  to  be  accounted  for 
from  the  nature  of  the  State,  which  gave  birth  to 
thefe  Myfteries.  Athens  was  a  city  the  moft  de- 
voted to  rehgion  of  any  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth.  On  this  account  their  poet  Sophocles  calls 
it  the  facred  budding  of  the  Gods'-,  in  allufion  to  its 
foundation.  Nor  was  it  a  lefs  compUment  St.  Paul 
intended  to  pay  the  Athenians,  when  he  faid,"Av<J'^2? 

'A9'«/«ro<,  >5*  zij'av'<3t  cog  ^cKrt^Mfj.avi^i^ag  vjjiag  B^iupci^. 
And  Jofephus  tells  us,  that  they  were  univerfally 
ejieemed  the  mofi  religious  people  of  Greece ''.  Hence, 
in  thefe  matters,  Athens  became  the  patern  and 
ftandard  to  the  reft  of  the  world. 

In  difcourfing,  therefore,  of  the  Myfieries  in  ge- 
neral, we  fnali  be  forced  to  take  our  ideas  of  them 
chiefly  from  what  we  find  practifed  in  the  Ekufini- 
an.  Nor  need  we  fear  to  be  miftaken  ;  the  end 
of  all  being  the  fame,  and  all  having  their  common 
original  from  Egypt. 

To  begin  with  the  general  purpofe  and  defign 
of  their  inllitution.  This  will  be  underftood,  by 
Viewing  what  they  communicated  promifcuoufly 
to  all. 

To  fupport  the  do6lrine  of  a  providence 
which,  they  taught,  governed  the  world  %  they  in- 
forced  the  belief  of  2,  future  fiate  of  rewards  and 
punifhments  "^5  by  all  kinds  of  methods.  But  as  this 
did  not  quite  clear  up  the  intricate  ways  of  provi- 

TToo-a  1;  <ij  J iQei XV  riK^f  Tocii~u  hyo'J  i^JiU-uTeea.",  oVw  xxt  Tt'?  S^a?  c/7fi~ 
TT^'o.S-iv  r,cuuj'j.  Pho'.iiis.  In  this  elegant  fimilitude  he  feems 
plainly  to  allude  to  the  feoet  of  the  mxlhrie.s ;  which,  as  we 
ihall  fee,  confiiled  in  an  explanation  of  the  origin  of  hero- 
tvorJJjip,  and  the  nature  of  the  deity, 

^   Ebara,  acl.ii.   fc.  i.  A0t-.NP.N  TON*  ©EC^MHTr.N.  — • 

"  Aft.  Apoft.  xvii.  22. 

—  £'ji7£o£raT«i  Tw»   "EXhyivm  ava^isi  Xsysr;;.  Cent-  J^p.  lib.  il. 

«  Plutarch,  dc  If.  l^  Ofir. 

^  [Myiteriis]  neque  folum,  &c. — •  Sed  et:'am  cum  fpe  rr.e- 
liore  morienJi.  Tull.  de  Legg.  lib  ii  c.  14. 

dence. 


142  The  Divine  Legation    Book  II, 

dence,  they  added  the  doflrine  of  a  metempfycho- 
fis,  or  the  beUef  of  2i  prior  Jl ate :  as  we  learn  from 
Cicero,  and  Porphyry  %  the  latter  of  whom  informs 
us,  that  it  was  taught  in  the  Myjleries  of  the  Per- 
fian  Mithras.  This  was  an  ingenious  folution, 
invented  by  the  Egyptian  lawgivers,  to  remove  all 
doubts  concerning  the  moral  attributes  of  God  ^ ; 
and  fo,  confequently,  to  eftablifh  the  belief  of  his 
providence,  from  z.  future  fiat e.  For  the  lawgiver 
well  knew  how  precarious  that  belief  was,  while 
the  moral  attributes  of  God  remained  doubtful  and 
uncertain. 

In  cultivating  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life,  it 
was  taught,  that  the  initiated  fhould  be  happier  in 
that  flate  than  all  other  mortals :  that  while  the 
fouls  of  the  profane,  at  their  leaving  the  body, 
fluck  fafb  in  miire  and  filth,  and  remained  in  dark- 
nefs,  the  fouls  of  the  initiated  winged  their  flight 
diredlly  to  the  happy  iflands,  and  the  habitations 
of  the  Godss.  This  promife  was  as  necelTary  for 
the  fupport  of  the  Myjieries,  as  the  Myfleries  were, 
for  the  fupport  of  the  dodtrine.  But  now,  left  it 
fhould  be  miftaken,  that  initiation  alone,  or  any 
other  means  than  a  virtuous  life,  intitled  men  to 
this  future  happinefs,  the  Myfleries  openly  pro- 
claimed it  as  their  chief  bufmefs,  to  reftore  the  foul 
to  its  original  purity.     "  It  was  the  end  and  de- 

^  K«4  7«^  ^(j/f*«  <v:civiuv  In  rSv  'ss^cotojv,  t^V  METEM'^TXliSIN 
"stj'  o  >cj  l^ipxuHv  io'iKx'j-iv  h  TiyTi  i3  M(0^«  ^,'L'r>!pcK.  De  Ahjt, 
lib.  iv,    §  16. 

^  So  Tully.  Ex  quibus  humans  vitas  erroribus  &  ssrumnia 
lit,  ut  interdiim  vcteres  illi  iive  vates,  five  in  facris  Initii-s- 
QUE  tradendis  divina;  mentis  interpretes,  qui  nos  ob  aliqua 
fcelera  fufccpta  in  vita  fuperiore,  pccnarum  luendarum  cauifa, 
ratos  cfie  dixerunt,  aliquid  vidifl'e  videantar.  Fragm,  ex  lib, 
de  Philafiphia. 

S  Plato  i?i  Fha-ilave — Afiflides  Eleufuiidi^  apud  Btoh^um^ 
Serm.wc),  ijc.  Sclct.  JriJL  ifi  Rm-is.  Diog.  Licrt.  7«  i-'zV.'Z 
Ljjag.  Cjuici, 


Scd.  4.     of  Moses  demonjlrated,  143 

"  fign  of  initiation  (fays  Plato)  to  rellore  the  foul 
"  to  that  ftate,  from  whence  it  fell,  as  from  its 
*'  native  feat  of  perfe6lion  '\"  They  contrived  that 
every  thing  fhould  tend  to  fiiev/  the  necefTity  of 
virtue  •,  as  appears  from  Epiftetus.  "  Thus 
"  the  myfteries  become  ufeful  ^  thus  we  feize  the 
"^  true  fpirit  of  them ;  when  we  begin  to  appre- 
*'  hend  that  every  thing  tlierein  was  inftituted  by 
"  the  ancients,  for  inftru6l;ion  and  amendment  of 
"  life'."  Porphyry  gives  us  fome of  thofe  moral 
precepts,  which  were  inforced  in  the  myitcries,  as 
io  honour  their  parents^  to  offer  up  fruits  to  the 
Gcds^  and  to  forbear  cruelty  towards  animals  ^.  In 
purfuance  of  this  fchemc,  it  v/as  required  in  the 
afpirant  to  the  Myjleries^  that  he  fiiould  be  of  a 
clear  and  unblemilhed  charadler,  and  free  even 
from  the  fufpicion  of  any  notorious  crime  ^.  To 
come  at  the  truth,  he  was  feverely  interrogated 
by  the  pricil  or  hierophant,  imprefTing  him  with 
the  fame  fenfe  of  his  obligation  to  conceal  nothing, 
as  is   now  done  at  the  roman   Confeflionnal '^. 

fc(^  a  t:;i/  -sj-fwTtjii  tTTcnifo-avIo  xaOo^oy,  w?  aV  u^-)(^c,.  In  Pheedone, 
«Ti  oin  ■C70Koia  xj  iTtcivo^^ua-^  Ts- |2iy  iictliroi^ri  'cjci^i'ist  'rscvToe,  2otJ  ru9 

•^a-Xxiuv.  h^w^  Arrian.  Dijfert.  lib.  iii.  cap.  21.  My  reafon 
for  tranflauiig  iU  (pccvla.ala.v,  in  this  manner,  was,  becaule  I 
imagined  the  author,  in  this  obfcure  expreflion,  alluded  to  the 
cuftom  in  the  niyfteries,  of  calling  thofe  who  were  initiated 
only  in  the  lefier,  MyV«« ;  but  thofe,  in  the  greater,  '£7ro7rlaj, 

Ahji.  lib.  iv.  '§22. 

OuToi    'yu.g  Ta  T     o-'/O^x  xaOafoTs  I't)  to??  jjcvcoh:  h  kouji  irp^aj-v- 
fst/Wiv,  SJ  Ta5  %=rp;  7571'  -^vx^.vj  ii).  Libanius  D^rt.  xix. 

'"  As  appears  from  the  repartee  which  Plutarch  records,  i.T 
his  Laconic  c'j)uthcg}?is  of  Lyjander^  when  he  went  to  be  initiated 
into  the  Samcthracian  ir.ylteries  ;  'E»oe  Za/Ac-S^axvj  ^^rirtipn^'-iAzti/ 

TTfocitr-.i — WJiy  iriitiation  into//'.'/' 7,vvA"W'f  is  criiled,  enquiring 
of  the  oi-aclc,   will  be  Icen  afterward 5. 

Hence 


144  ^^  Divine  Legation    Book  IL 

Hence  it  was,  that  when  Nero,  after  the  murder 
of  his  mother,  took  a  journey  into  Greecej  and 
had  a  mind  to  be  prefent  at  the  celebration  of  the 
Eleuftnian  myfteries,  the  confcience  of  his  parri- 
cide deterred  him  from  attempting  it ".  On  the 
fame  account,  the  good  emperor  M.  Antoninus, 
when  he  would  purge  himfelf  to  the  world  of  the 
death  of  Avidius  Caffius,  chofe  to  be  initiated  in- 
to the  Eleufinian  myfteries  "j  it  being  notorious,  that 
none  were  admitted  into  them,  who  laboured  under 
the  juft  fufpicion  of  any  heinous  immorality.  This 
w^as  originally  a  fundamental  condition  of  initia- 
tion, obferved  in  common,  by  all  the  myfteries  \  and 
inftituted  by  Bacchus,  or  Ofiris  himfelf,  the  firft 
inventer  of  them ;  who,  as  Diodorus  tells  us,  initi- 
ated none  but  pious  and  virtuous  men  ^.  During 
the  celebration  of  the  myfteries,  they  were  enjoined 
the  greateft  purity,  and  higheft  elevation  of  mind. 
"  When  you  facrifice  or  pray  (fays  Epidtetus  in 
"  Arrian)  go  with  a  prepared  purity  of  mind,  and 
"  with  difpofitions  fo  previoufly  difpofed,  as  are 
*'  required  of  you  when  you  approach  the  anci- 
*'  ent  rites  and  myfteries'^."  And  Proclus  tells 
us  that  the  myfteries  and  the  initiations  drew  the 
fouls  of  men  from  a  material,  fenfual,  and  merely 
human  life,  and  joined  them  in  communion  with 
the  Gods  ^     Nor  was  a  lefs  degree  of  purity  re- 

"  Peregrinatione  quidem,  Grsci^,  Elufmiis  facris,  quorum 
initiatione  impii  &  fcelerati  voce  praeconis  fubmoverentur,  in- 
tereffe  non  aufus  eft.    Sueton,  Vitci  Nero7i.  cap.  34* 

o  Jul.  Capit.   Vita  Ant.  Phil,  and  Dion  CafT. 

filPiKv  tgm:  ivjiQicrt  Tw>   dsd^uTrnv  1^   oiXXiov  (3;civ  acxacrt.     lib.  11!, 

p.  138.  St.  Ed. 

DiJ/lrt.  lib.  iii.  cap.  2!. 

til^c  (^u.ric  TKj O^f  va\-,  kJ  a-v.oirPiiiv  Tsr^  ^:o7':,.  In  Rimp.  Plat.  lib.  i. 

quired 


Se6l.  4.     of  Mo  5ES  demonjlrated.  14^ 

quired  of  the  Initiated  for  their  future  condufl  *". 
They  were  obliged  byfolemn  engagements  to  com- 
mence a  new  life  of  ilrifteft  piety  and  virtue  ;  into 
which  they  were  entered  by  a  fevere  courfe  of  pe- 
nance, proper  to  purge  the  mind  of  its  natural 
defilements.  Gregory  Nazianzen  tells  us,  that 
'■''  no  one  could  be  initiated  into  the  myfteries  of 
"  of  Mithras,  till  he  had  undergone  all  forts  of 
"  mortifying  trials,  and  had  approved  himfelf  holy 
"  and  impalTible  ^"  The  confideration  of  all  this 
made  Tertullian  fay,  that,  in  the  myfteries, 
"  Truth  herfelf  took  on  every  fliape,  to  oppofe 
"  and  combat  truth'."  AndAuftin,  "  That  the 
"  devil  hurried  away  deluded  fouls  to  their  de- 
"  ftrutlion,  when  he  proniifed  to  purify  them  by 
"  thofe  ceremonies,  called  initiations'^." 

The  Initiated^  under  this  difcipline,  and  with 
thefe  promifes,  were  efteemed  the  only  happy  men. 
Ariftophanes,  who  fpeaks  the  fenfe  of  the  people, 
makes  them  exult  and  triumph  after  this  manner: 
"  On  us  only  does  the  fun  difpenfe  his  bleffings ; 
"  we  only  receive  pleafure  from  his  beams  :  we, 
"  who  are  initiated,  and  perform  towards  citizens 
**  and  ftrangers  ail  ads  of  piety  and  juftice ".  And 

'  Kat  Turn  (/.vrYi^iuv  a'lt&fi.-K  tii'-fjlui  t^  t^?  -ixrap'  VfjJ^  ct^W'>li  tsa.\,' 
^ixitTisi^.  Ouidam  apud  Sopatrum,  in  Di'v.  ^/rfl. 

cut  TKv  KohccJiuy  /57«pe>i0o»,  )^  oi'ii^  locvlov  «7ra6?  x^  oo■^o^,    1  Orat. 
cont.  J ul'ian. 

*'  Omnia  adverfus  verLtatem,  de  ipfa  veritate  conftrufta  effe. 
Apol.  <:ap,  47. 

^^  Diubolum  anlmas  deceptas  illufafque  prsecipitafTe,  quum 
polliceretur  purgationem  animie  per  cas,  quas  TEAElAL"  ap-' 
pellant.     De  Triniiate,  lib.  iii.  c.  10. 

Kxi  itii  Jj*i>'T*;.  Chc'fu:  in  Ranis,  zci.  \ 

Vol.  I.  L  Sophocles, 


146  ^be  Divine  Legation    Book  11, 

Sophocles,  to  the  fame  purpofe,  "  Life,  only  is 
"  to  be  had  there  :  all  other  places  are  full  of  mi- 
*'  fery  and  evil  ^"     "  Happy  (fays  Euripides)  is 
*'  the  man  who  hath  been  initiated  into  the  greater 
*'  myfteries,  and  leads  a  life  of  piety  and  religion  ^.'* 
And  the  longer  any  one  had  been  initiated,  the 
more  honourable  they  deemed  him  ^.    It  was  even 
fcandalous  not  to  be  initiated  :  and  however  vir- 
tuous the  perfon  other  wife  appeared,  he  became 
fufpicious  to  the  people ;  as  was  the  cafe  of  So- 
crates, and,  in  after-times,  of  Demonax''.      No 
wonder,  then,  if  the  fuperior  advantages  of  the 
Initiated.,  both  here  and  hereafter,  fhould  make  the 
myjieries  univerfally  afpired  to.     And,  indeed,  they 
foon  grew  as  comprehenfive  in  the  numbers  they 
embraced,  as  in  the  regions  and  countries  to  which 
they  extended :    men,  women,  and   children  ran 
to  be   initiated.     Thus  Apuleius""   defcribes  the 
Hate  of  the  myfteries  even  in  his  time  :  "  Influunt 
"  turba?,  facris  divinis  initiate,  viri  fceminsque, 
*'  omnis  astatis  &  omnis  dignitatis."  The  pagans, 
we  fee,  feemed  to  think  initiation  as  neceffary,  as 
the  chriftians  did  haftifm.    And  the  cuftom  of  in- 
itiating children  appears  from  a  paffage  of  Te- 
rence '',  to  have  been  general. 

"  Ferietur  alio  munere,  ubi  hera  pepererit; 


y  Tor?  ^£  imssk;  \kh 

ZsJk  lr»*  ToTV  J'  a.Xf\OKTi  -nroMT'  imt  KaKSit 
^  'il  (jLuKctp  o'ri?  EU^ai/Xi/V  T£>iElac  Sew" 
Eii*wj,  ^lolatKxyir'tJj-  Bacchf 

^  K«t  0  "fA  olfiri7\.r,<;  /vt^V'''/;  aTif*oT£g©-  T«  ■Era^at  fiura.    AHUl"* 
des  in  Orat.  t^  (:t^(p(iiy^.Kl<^. 
^  Lucian.  Fit.  Denu 
'  Met.  lib.  xi. 

''  Phorm.  aft.  i.  fc.  i.  And  Donatus,  on  the  place,  telk 
ns,  the  fame  cuftom  prevailed  in  the  Samothracian  myfteries  : 
'•'  Terentius  ApoIIodorum  fequitur,  apud  quern  legitur,  in  in- 
"  Tula  Samothracum  k  certo  tempore  pueros  iiiitiaii,  more  A- 
'*  fhefienfjum." 

"  Porro 


Sedl.  4.       o/'  Mo  s  E s  demonftrated,         l^y 
"  Porro  autem  alio,  ubi  erit  puero  natalis  dies, 

"  Ubi  INITIABUNT. 

Nay  they  had  even  the  fame  fuperftition  in  the  ad- 
miniftration  of  it,  which  fome  chriftians  had  of 
baptifm,  to  defer  it  to  the  approach  of  death; 
fo  the  honeft  farmer  Trygsus,  in  the  Pax  of  Ari- 
ftophanes : 

The  occafion  of  this  fohcitude  is  told  us  by  the  fcho- 
liaft  on  the  Ran^e  of  the  fame  poet.  "  The  Athenians 
*'  believed,  that  he  who  was  initiated,  and  inftrudt- 
"  ed  in  the  myfteries,  would  obtain  divine  honours 
"  after  death  :  and  therefore  all  ran  to  be  in- 
"  itiated^"  Their  fondnefo  for  it  became  {o 
great,  that  at  fuch  times  as  the  public  treafury  was 
low,  the  magiftrate  could  have  recourfe  to  the 
myjleries,  as  a  fund  to  fupply  the  exigencies  of 
the  ftate.  "  Ariftogiton  (fays  the  commentator  on 
*'  Hermogenes)  in  a  great  fcarcity  of  public  mo- 
*'  ney,  procured  a  law,  that  in  Athens  every  one 
*'  fhould  pay  a  certain  fum  for  his  initiation  ^" 

Every  thing  in  thefe  rites  was  myfteriouQy  con- 
duced, and  under  the  moft  folemn  obhgations  to 
feorecy  ^.     Which  how  it  could  agree  to  our  repre- 

fjkilcc  T)jv   IvOevJe  TsAc^lijy   Sc»«j  '/,|iaro  Ttfi?;'  ^(o    kJ   <tuu^i<;  -crpo;  7ri» 

A^troyiWav  IV   myciv^  ^fVj[AciTi)v,   y^'p{  vo(/.ov,    'aa,^  AwMccioiz 
ftit&a  fAfsTii&at.    Syrianus. 

s  Cum  ignotis  hominibus  Orpheus  facrorum  ceremonias  a- 
periret,  nih\l  aliud  ab  his  quos  initiabat  in  primo  veftibulo  nifi. 
juris] urandi  neceffitatem,  &  cum  terribili  qnadam  auftoritate 
religionis,  exegit,  ne  profanis  auribus  invents  ac  compofitas 
religionia  fecreta  proderentur.  Firmicus  in  limine  lib.  vii.  Afiro!. 

—  Nota  funt  hsc  GrseCce  fuperftitionis  Hierophantis,  quibus 
inviohbili  lege  interdiftum  erat,  ne  hscatque  hujasmodiMy- 
fteria  apud  eos,  qui  his  facris  minime  inidati  effent,  evulgarent, 

—  Nicetas  in   Grcgorii    Na%iajrzaii   Orat.     lU   to.    uyia  (pcoTct. 

This  obligation  of  the  initiated  to  fecrefy  was  the  reafon  that 

L  2  fentation 


*t4^  '^^  l)m/z^  Legation    Book  11. 

fentation  of  the  myfleries,  as  an  inflitution  for  the 
life  of  the  people,  v/e  fliall  now  endeavour  to 
fhew. 

They  were  hidden  and  kept  fecret  for  two  rea- 
fbns: 

I.  Nothing  excites  our  curiofity  Hke  that  which 
retires  from  our  obfervation,  and  feems  to  forbid 
our  fearch.  Of  this  opinion  we  find  the  learned 
Synefius,  where  he  fays,  "  The  people  will  defpife 
"  what  is  eafy  and  intelligible,  and  therefore  they 
"  muft  always  be  provided  with  fomething  won- 
*'  derful  and  myfterious  in  religion,  to  hit  their 
*'  tafte,  and  ftimulate  their  curiofity ''."  And  again, 
*'  The  ignorance  of  the  myfleries  preferves  their 
*■'  veneration  ;  for  which  reafon  they  are  entrufted 
**  to  the  cover  of  night  '.'*  On  thefe  principles 
the  myfleries  were  framed.  They  were  kept  fecret, 
to  excite  curiofity :  they  were  celebrated  in  the 
night,  to  imprefs  veneration  and  religious  horror  ^, 
And  they  were  performed  with  variety  of  fhews 
and  reprefentations  (of  which  more  hereafter)  to 
fix  and  perpetuate  thofe  imprellions '.  Hitherto, 
then,  the  myfleries  are  to  be  confidered  as  invent- 

the  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  for  them,  was  a  grafliopper,  which 
v/as  fuppofed  to  have  no  mouth.  See  HorapoUo  Hieroglyph. 
lib.  ii.  cap.  55. 

^    To  ^\  ^txrov  KciiocyiKdcrtlai  0  t^yi^'  SbTtui  ya,^  Tf^le/a;'      To 

the  fame  purpofe,  Nicephorus  Gregoras,  Hiji.  lib.  v.  Ta  yaj 

Libra  de  Frovidcntia. 

'^  Euripides,  mx\\t 'Bacchant esy  a6l.  ii.  makes  Bacchus  fay, 
that  the  orgies  were  celebrated  in  the  night,  becaufe  darknefs 
has  fomething  folemn  and  augult  in  it,  and  proper  to  fill  the 
mind  with  facred  horror, 

*  Lil  xj  Ta  fyl-vryipici.  h  A^AHTOPlAlS  ^eyfjai,  isfoq  "x'TtM^iv 
x)   ^^\xhjj,  wsor.'J  iv   SKOTiii,   x^  NTKTI"     s'oiye    ^l   yj^  yi  dhhri[o^\ce. 

rg-u  ffnixii  >c^  ■;r  !'i;xl».    Demet.  Phalercus  de  ElQcutione^  §110. 


Bed:.  4.   ^  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrated,  14^ 

cd,  not  to  deter y  but  to  brcite  the  curiofity  of  tlie 
people.     But, 

II.  They  were  kept  fecret  from  a  neceffity  of 
teaching  the  Initiated  fome  things,  improper  to 
be  communicated  to  all.  The  learned  Varro  in  a 
fragment  of  his  book  Of  religions^  preferved  by  St. 
Auguflin,  tells  us,  that  "  There  were  many  truths, 
*'  which  it  was  inconvenient  for  the  ftate  to  be 
**  generally  known  ;  and  many  things,  which, 
"  though  falfe,  it  was  expedient  the  people  fhould 
"  believe  ;  and  that  therefore  the  Greeks  fliut  up 
"  their  mysteries  in  the  filence  of  their  facred 
"  inclofures"." 

Now  to  reconcile  this  feeming  contradidion,  of 
fuppofing  the  m.yfteries  to  be  inftituted  to  invite 
the  people  into  them,  and,  at  the  fame  time,  to 
keep  them  from  the  people's  knowledge,  we  are 
to  obferve,  that  in  the  Eleufinian  rites  there  were 
tvfo  myjieries,  the  greater  and  the  less".  The 
end  of  the  lefs  muft  be  referred  to  what  we  faid  of 
the  inftitutor's  intention  to  invite  the  people  inta 
them ;  and  of  the  greater,  to  his  intention  of  keep- 
ing fome  truths  from  the  people's  knowledge. 
Nor  is  this  faid  without  fufficient  warrant :  anti- 
quity is  very  exprefs  for  this  diflindion.  We 
are  told  that  the  lejfer  myjleries  were  only  a  kind  of 
preparatory  purification  (or  thQ  greater  °,  and  might 
be  eafiy  communicated  to  all  p.     That  four  years  '^ 

•"  Multa  effe  vera,  qus  vulgo  fcire  non  fit  utile ;  mukaque, 
qus,  tametfi  falfa  fint,  aliterexiftimare  populum  expediat.  Et 
ideo  Gro'cos  Teletas  ac  Mysteria  taciturnitate  parieti- 
busque  claufiffe.    Ci'v.Dti,  lib.  iv.  cap.  31. 

T??  twrH;  ^-jyccl^o:;.     Interp.  Grsc.  ad  P/ut.  Jrifioiihanis. 

Bchol.  adPlut.  fecund.  Arijioph^. 

P     E7r£KJ»}3-«i/  ^v^r,3ia,  ivfjLi'\a.o'j~u.    Scliol.  Arljloph. 

^  — Ciim  epoptas  ante  quinquennium  inlHtaunt,  ut  opinio^ 
nem  fufpendio  ccgnitionis  ;:?diiicent.  Tertnl.  adu  .VaUutinianos^ 

L  3  was. 


i^o  ^he  Dhhte  Legation    Book  II. 

was  the  ufual  time  of  probation  for  thofe  greater 
myfleries;  in  which  (as  Clemens  Alexandrinus 
exprefly  informs  us)  the  secrets  were  depofited  ^ 

However,  as  it  is  very  certain,  that  both  the 
greater  and  lej^er  myfieries  were  inftituted  for  the 
benefit  of  the  flate,  it  follows,  that  the  doElrines 
taught  in  both-,  were  equally  for  the  fervice  of  fo- 
ciety  ;  only  with  this  difference,  fome,  without  in- 
convenience, might  be  taught  promifcuoufly ; 
others  could  not. 

On  the  whole,  the  fecret  in  the  lej[er  myfteries 
was  fome  hidden  rites  and  Jhews  to  be  kept  from 
the  open  view  of  the  people,  only  to  invite  their 
curiofity  •,  and  the  fecret  in  the  greater,  fome  hid- 
den dokrines  to  be  kept  from  the  people's  know- 
ledge, for  the  very  contrary  purpofe.  For  the 
Jhews  common  both  to  the  greater  and  leffer  myfte- 
ries, were  only  defigned  to  engage  the  attention, 
and  raife  their  devotion. 

But  it  may  be  worth  while  to  enquire  more  par- 
ticularly into  the  hidden  do5lrines  of  the  greater  my- 
fteries :  for  fo  religioufly  was  the  fecret  kept,  that 
the  thing  feems  Hill  to  lie  involved  in  darknefs. 
We  fhall,  therefore,  proceed  cautioufly ;  and  try, 
from  the  obfcure  hints  dropped  up  and  down  in 
antiquity, 

"  Pandere  res  alta  terra  &  caligine  merfas." 
Firft,  as  to  their  general  nature,  it  appears  they 
mull  needs  be  fuch,  as,  if  promifcuoufly  taught, 
would  bring  prejudice  to  the  itate;  why  elfe  were 
they  fecreted  ?  and,  at  the  fame  time,  benefit,  if 
communicated  with  caution  and  prudence ;  why 
q\{z  were  they  taught  at  all  ? 

ri'j  <pvirr,  y^  ra  zccdij.'.a'.ci.     Strom,  v. 

From 


Se(51:.  4»      ^  Moses  demo'njirated.         151 

From  their  general  nature,  we  come  by  degrees 
to  their  particular.     And, 

I.  To  the  certain  knowledge  of  what  they  were 
not :  which  is  one  ftep  to  the  knov.'ledge  of 
what  they  were. 

T.  They  were  not  the  common  doftrines  of  a 
providence  and  future  ftate  ;  for  ancient  teftimony 
is  exprefs,  that  thefe  doftrincs  were  taught  pro- 
mifcuoufly  to  all  the  initiated  ;  and  were  the  very 
elTence  of  7nyfferious  rites.  —  Thofe  doclrines  were 
not  capable  of  being  hid  and  fecreted,  becaufe  they 
were  univerfal  amongft  the  civilized  part  of  man- 
kind. There  was  no  need  to  hide  them  -,  becaufe 
the  common  knowledge  of  them  was  fo  far  from 
being  detrimental,  that  fociety,  as  we  have  Ihewn, 
could  not  even  fubfiil  without  their  being  generally 
known  and  believed. 

2.  Thefe  fecret  dodrines  could  not  be  the  meta- 
physeal fpeculations  of  the  philofophers  concern- 
ing the  deity,  and  the  human  foul.  Becaufe  this 
would  be  making  the  hidden  do5irines  of  the  fchools 
of  philofophy,  and  of  the  myfieries  of  religion,  one 
and  the  fame ;  which  they  could  not  be,  becaufe 
their  ends  were  different :  the  end  of  philofophy 
being  only  truth ;  the  end  of  religion,  only  utili- 
ty ^ Becaufe  revealing  fuch  metaphyfical  fpecu- 
lations to  the  members  of  civil  fociety,  with  what 
precaution  foever,  would  be  injurious  to  the  ftate^ 

*"  We  fay,  that  the  profefied  end  of  the  ancient  philofopher 
was  the  difcovery  of  truth,  and  that  of  the  legifiator,  the  pro- 
imotion  of  utility.  But  both  being  ignorant  of  this  important 
truth,  that  truth  and  utility  do  coincide^  (fee  B.  III.  §  ::.)  they 
both,  in  many  cafes,  niiifed  Ihamefully  of  their  end.  The  firft, 
ivhile  he  neglected  utility,  falling  into  the  moll:  abfurd  and  fa- 
tal errors  concerning  the  nature  of  God  and  the  foul  (feeB.  III. 
§  4.)  and  the  other,  while  he  was  too  little  follicitous  about 
truth,  encouraging  a  polytheifm  defhruclive  to  fociety  ;  to  re  - 
gulate  which,  he,  fuccefsfully  however,  as  we  fhall  fee,  em- 
ployed thefe  iiiyfterics. 

L  4  and 


11^2  ^b^  Dhlne  Legation     Book  II. 

and  produdive  of  no  good  to  religion  :  as  will  be 
feen  when  we  come,  in  the  third  book,  to  examine 
what  thofe  metaphyfical  fpeculations  were.  —  Be- 
caufe  fuch  fpeculations  (as  we  fhall  then  fee)  would 
overthrow  every  thinp^  taught  to  all^  in  the  myjle- 
ries,  concerning  a  providence,  and  a  future  ftate  : 
and  yet  we  are  told  by  the  ancients,  that  the  do- 
d:rines  of  a  providence,  and  future  ftate,  were  the 
foundation  of  the  more  fecret  ones,  after  which 
we  are  now  enquiring '. 

II.  Having,  from  the  difcovery  of  the  gene- 
ral end  and  purpofe  of  thefe  fecrets,  feen 
what  they  could  not  be,  we  fhall  now  be 
enabled  to  find  what,  in  fa<5t,  they  were. 
To  begin  with  a  paffage  of  Clemens  Alexandri- 

nus "  After  thefe  (namely,  luftrations)  are  the 

*'  LESSER  myfteries,  in  which  is  laid  the  founda- 
*'  TioN  of  the  hidden  dodrines,  and  preparations 

*  I  have  been  the  more  particular  in  refuting  this  notion, 
that  the  fecret  dodlrines  of  ih.efchools,  and  of  the  myjlcries  might 
be  the  fame  ;  becaufe  I  find  it  to  be  an  error,  that  fome,  even 
of  the  moft  knowing  of  the  ancients,  were  apt  to  fall  in- 
to. What  milled  them,  was,  i.  That  the  fchools,  and  myfteries 
both  pretended  to  refiore  the  foul  to  its  original  purity  and  per- 
feSlion.  We  have  feen  how  much  the  myfteries  pretended  to 
it.  As  to  the  Philofophers,  Porphyry,  fpeaking  of  Pythago- 
ras, tells  us,  that  "  he  profefled  philofophy,  whofe  end  is  to 
*'  free  and  vindicate  the  foul  from  thofe  chains  and  confine- 
*'  ments,  to  which  its  abode  with  us  hath  fubjeftedit."  C^iAo- 

Fit  a  Pythag.  2.  That  the  fchools  andi  myjicries  had  each  their 
hidden  dodlrines,  which  went  under  the  common  name  of 
AnoPPHlA  ;  and  that,  which  had  a  common  name,  was  un- 
dcrftood  to  have  a  common  nature.  3.  And  chiefly,  that  the 
philofopher  and  lawgiver,  being  frequently  in  one  and  the  fame 
perfon,  a.nd,  confequently,  the  inftitutions  of  the  myfteries 
and  fchools  eftablilhcd  by  the  fame  hand,  it  appeared  reafon- 
able  to  think,  that  the  ^'tt^c^-^,  in  both,  were  the  fame  j  they 
not  diftinguifhmg  the  twofold  charader  of  the  ancient  fage, 
which  ftiali  be  e;cplained  in  its  place.  See  B.  III.  §  z. 

"  for 


Sedt.  4.     of  Mo  SES  dcmonj^ra-tcd.  153 

*"  for  what  is  to  come  afterwards  ^"  From  a 
knowledge  of  the  foundation,  we  may  be  able  to 
form  an  idea  of  the  fuperftrudure.  This  founda- 
tion (as  hath  been  fhewn)  was  the  bciicf  ot  a  pro- 
vidence, and  future  ftate-,  and,  its  confequence  on 
pradlice,  obligation  to  a  virtuous  life.  But  there 
was  one  infuperable  obftacle  to  a  life  of  purity  and 
holinefs,  th^  vicious  examples  of  their  Gods.  Ego 
HOMUN'cio  HOC  NON  F A CEREM ''■  ?  v/as  the  ab- 
folving  formula,  whenever  any  one  was  refolved. 
to  give  a  loofe  to  his  paffions  ^,  And  the  licentious 
rites,  in  the  open  worfhip  oF  their  Gods,  gave  ftili 
greater  encouragement  to  thefe  ccncluCons.  Plato, 
in  his  book  0/ Li.-Z'ix'j,  forbids  drinking  to  excefs ; 
unlefs,  fays  he,  during  the  feafts  of  Bacchus,  and 

"   Mela  rauTo.  di    If-i  Ta  fAi-"p»    [/.v^'ricux.,   otaci^KxX'^c^^    Tv.a,  vtCi^i- 
cvi    'iyji^\a.,  kJ  wg^  >-^j/'C";ic>'l;-^?  Ti-v  (itEXAvvlwy.     Strom.  V,       Ayuv  yx? 

«  w  Terence,  Emi.  aft.  iii.  fc.  v. ---Euripides  puts  t-iis  argu- 
ment'into  the  mouth  of  fsveral  of  his  fpeakers,  up  and  down 
his  tragedies.  Helen,  in  the  iv'^''  aft  of  f&e  Trojan  dames,  fays, 
"  How  could  Irefift  a  Goddefs,  whom  Jupiter  himfelf  obeys  ?"" 
Ion,  in  his  pi  ay  of  that  name,  in  the  latter  end  of  the  f;rft  aft, 
fpeaks  to  the  lame  purpofe :  and  in  the  v'^  aft  o^  Hercules  Furens 
Thefeus  comforts  his  friend  by  the  examples  of  the  crimes  of 
the  Gods.  See  likewife  his  Hippolytus,  aft.  ii.  fc.  ii.  The 
learned  and  ingenious  Mr.  Seward,  in  his  traft  of  the  conformity 
het-ivecn  popery _  and  paganifm,  has  taken  notice  of  a  difficultpafiage 
in  this  tragedy,  which  he  has  very  ably  explained,  on  the  ij- 
item  here  delivered  of  the  deteftion  of  polytheifm  in  the  facred 
myileries. 

*   — -0  2    'srcA'.';  kJ    a^i7;')£ro'^r,'((^  &P(^X'D-    c/7n   to.    X''^?'^   ^ce.f/,Qxyeiv 

uv,  u;  Of  i^oXA'/)  Kccxooa.iiA.OHx  xv^^y'itif/^/juiv'  'A  ruv  air^'.^ui  ie  xJ 
rzc^a.'-ojji.ufice.rm  Bdc\li;  XTCtyj^,    BioT^  o^uv  avra  'S7^g-xs''f^,'.C!..      Dion. 

Halicar.  apud  Eufeb.  Pro'p.  Eaia.'ig.  lib.  ii;  cap.  8.  Eut  a  re- 
markable palTage  in  Plautus  fliews  that  this  was  grown  up  into 
an  eftablifhed  principle.  In  his  Ampliicruo  he  makes  Mercury 
joke  upon  the  oflice  of  a  Parafite  in  the  defcription  he  gives  of 
his  ovv-n  obfequioufnefs  to  his  father  Jupiter. 
"  Amanti  [patrlj  fupparafitor,  hortor,  aflo,  admoneo,  gaudeo, 
*'  Siqaid  patri  volup"  ell,  voijaptas  ea  mihi  multo  maxima  eft. 

L  5  in 


1^4  ^he  Divine  Legation     Book  IL 

in  honour  of  that  Gody.  And  Ariftotle,  in  his 
Politics,  having  blamed  all  lewd  and  obfcene  images 
and  pidures,  excepts  thofe  of  the  Gods,  which 
religion  had  fandliiied. 

Now  the  myfferies  profeded  to  exa6l  nothing 
difficult  of  the  initiateci  %  which  they  would  not 
aflift  him  to  perform.  It  was  necefiary,  then,  to 
remedy  this  evil;  which  they  did,  by  lliiking  at 
the  root  of  it.  So  that,  fuch  of  the  initiated  as 
were  judged  capable,  were  made  acquainted  with 
the  whole  delufion.  The  rayifagogue  taught  themi '', 
that  Jupiter,  Mercury,  Bacchus,  Venus,  Mars,  and 
the  whole  rabble  of  licentious  deities,  were  only 
dead  mortals ;  fubjed,  in  life,  to  the  fame  pafilons 
and  infirmities  with  thcmfelves ;  but  having  been, 
on  other  accounts,  benefaftors  to  mankind,  grate- 
ful pofrerity  had  deihed  them;  and,  with  their 
virtues,  had  indifcretely  canonized  their  vices. 
The  fabulous  Gods  being  thus  roufjd,  the  fupreme 

"  Amat,  fapit:  re£te  fac;!:,  animo  quando  obfeqiiltur  fuo. 
He  then  axldrefies  himfelf  to  the  audience,and  tells  them  gravely, 
that  men,  in  like  manner,  after  the  example  of  Jupiter,   ihould 

indulo-e  their  paffions,  where  they  can  doitfafely. "  Quod 

"  omnes  homines  facere  oportet,  dum  id  modo  fiat  bono, 
y  Lib.  vi. 

Sopat.  in    Di'V.  ^uaji.      Ka(}a-^;^    u.'iO^'j  fivrv/^'w    cr^oisAic&EK    t;? 

rm  l(7~iiJx(cv.  Sopat.  ibidem. 

b  V/hen  St.  Auftin  (Cv.  Dei,  lib.  ii.  cap.  7,  8 )  hsd 
quoted  the  Ego  h^mu-ncio  hoc  r,on  faceron,  to  ihew  what  mif- 
chiefthefe  ftcries  did  to  the  morals  of  the  people;  he  makes 
the  defenders  of  paganifm  reply,  that  it  was  true,  but  then 
thefe  things  were  only  taught  in  the  fables  of  the  poets,  which, 
an  attention  to  the  v.yjleries  would  reftify  :  "  At  enim  non  tra- 
"  duntur  ilia  sacris  deorum,  fed  fabulis  poctarum."  This 
the  Father  cannot  deny ;  but  obferves,  however,  that  in  the 
then  ccrrupt  fiate  of  the  myjleries  tlie  remedy  was  .  be- 
come part  of  the  difeafe :  "Nolo  dicere  ill.'\  mystica^ 
"  quam  iila  ther.trica  effs  turpiora.". 

caufe 


Se£l.  4.     of  Moses  demonp-afed.  155 

caufe  of  all  things  naturally  took  their  place.  Him 
they  were  taught  to  confider  as  the  creator  of  the 
univerfe,  who  pervaded  all  things  by  his  virtue, 
and  governed  all  by  his  providence.  But  here  it 
muft  be  obferved,  that  the  difcovery  of  this  fupreme 
caufe  was  made  confiftent  with  the  notion  of  local 
tutelary  deities,  Beings  fuperior  to  men,  and  in- 
ferior to  God,  and  by  him  fet  over  the  feveral  parts 
of  his  creation.  This  was  an  opinion  univerfally 
holden  by  antiquity,  and  ne^cr  brought  into  que- 
ftion  by  any  theifl.  What  the  -^ffy^oc  overthrew, 
was  the  vulgar  polytheifm,  the  worfhip  of  dead 
men.  From  this  time,  the  initiated  had  the  title 
of  EncriTHS,  by  which  was  meant  one  that  fees 
things  as  they  are,  and  without  difguife  -,  whereas  be- 
fore, he  was  called  MTSTHS,  wliich  has  a  con- 
trary Pignification. 

But,  befides  the  prevention  of  vice,  the  detec- 
tion of  the  national  Gods  had  another  important 
life,  which  was  to  excite  men  to  heroic  virtue,  by 
ihewing  them  what  honours  the  benefadlors  of  na- 
tions had  acquired,  by  the  free  exercife  of  it. 
And  this  (as  will  be  fhewn  hereafter)  was  the  chief 
reafon  why  princes,  ftatefmen,  and  leaders  of  co- 
lonies and  armies  all  afpired  to  be  partakers  of  the 
greater  myfieries. 

Thus  we  fee,  how  what  was  taught  and  required 
in  the  leffer  myfieries ,,  became  the  foundation  of  in- 
ftruflion  in  the  greater :  the  obligation  to  a  good 
life  there,  made  it  neceffary  to  remove  the  errors 
of  vulgar  polytheifm  here-y  and  the  doflrine  of  a 
providence  taught  previoufly  in  thofe,  facilitated 
the  reception  of  the  fole  caufe  of  ail  things,  when 
finally  revealed  in  thefe. 

Such  were  the  truths  which  Varro,  as  quoted 
above,  tells  us  it  was  inexpedient  for  the  people  to 

know : 


156  ^be  Divine  Legation    Book  If. 

know  *^ ;  he  fuppofed,  indeed,  the  error  of  vulgar 
polytheifm  to  be  fo  inveterate,  that  it  was  not  ta 
be  expelled  without  throwing  fociety  into  convul- 
fions.  But  Plato  fpoke  out :  he  owned  it  to  be 
*'  difficult  to  find  the  father  and  creator  of  the  uni- 
*'  verfe  •,  and,  when  found,  impoffible  to  difcover 
"  him  to  all  the  world  ^." 

Befides,  there  was  another  reafon  why  the  in- 
ftitutors  of  the  myfteries,  who  were  lawgivers, 
fhould  be  for  keeping  this  truth  a  fecret.  They 
had  had,  themfelves,  the  chief  hand  in  the  rife 
of  vulgar  polytheifm  ^.  They  contrived  it  for  the 
fake  ot  the  ftate  ;  and  to  keep  the  people  in  awe, 
under  a  greater  veneration  for  their  laws.  This 
polytheifm,  the  poets  had  depraved,  by  inventing 
or  recording  vicious  ftories  of  the  Gods  and  heroes, 
which  the  lawgivers  were  willing  to  have  ftifled  ^ 

^  Thefe  two  were  the  truths  which  the  pontifex  Scasvola  faid 
were  to  be  kept  hid  from  the  people.  Relatum  eft  in  litteras, 
doftiffimum  Pontificem  Scsevolam  difputaffe  tria  genera  tradita 
Deorum ;  unum  a  poetis,  alterum  a  philofophis,  tertium  a  prin- 
cipibus  civitatis.  Primum  genus  nugatorium  dicit  effe  —  Secun- 
dum non  congruere  civitatibus,  quod  habeant  aliqua  —  quas  ob- 
fit  populis  nofle  —  Qus  funt  autem  ilia  qu^  prolata  in  multitu- 
dinem  nocent  ?  "  Hsec,  inquit ;  non  efle  deos  Herculem,  JE{- 
"  cu'-'pium,  Caftorem,  Pollucem  :  proditur  enim  adodtis,  quod 
**  houiiiies  fuerint,  &  humana  conditione  defecerint."  ■ 
Auguftin.  DeCi'vit.Dei,  lib.  iv.  cap.  27. 

'  See  the  fecond  Sedlion  of  this  Book. 

f  Plato  has  a  remarkable  pafiage  to  this  purpofe.  Speaking, 
in  the  beginning  of  his  xi'''  book  Of  Lwws^  concerning  thett,. 
and  fraud,  and  rapine,  he  takes  notice  of  the  popular  ftories 
told  of  Mercury,  as  if  he  delighted  in  fuch  things,  and  patro- 
nized thofe  who  did  ;  the  philofopher  fays  they  are  not  true  ; 
and  cautions  men  from  being  led  away  by  luch  pretended  ex- 
amples. However,  to  make  all  fure,  he  takes  up  the  method 
of  t)Mtn:yJi cries,  and  adds,  that  if,  indeed.  Mercury  did,  or  en- 
couraged, fuch  things,  he  was  ntither  a  God,  nor  of  celeftial- 
original.— *7kO!rjj  "p.  ^r.uxju^^  dnhelbi^v,  a,^iTiiyrt  01,  a«lcr%M«1oX 

And 


Seel.  4.1    0/'  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrafed,  157 

And  they  were  only  fuch  ftories,  that,  in  their 
opinion,  as  may  be  feen  in  Plato,  nnade  polytheifm 
hurtful  to  the  ftate. 

That  this  account  of  the  secret,  in  xht greater 
myfteries,  is  no  precarious  hypothefis,  raifed  merely 
on  conjedture,  I  Ihall  now  endeavour  to  fhew, 

Firft,  from  the  clear  evidence  of  antiquity, 
which  exprefly  informs  us  of  thefe  two  particulars ; 
That  the  errors  of  polytheifm  were  detefted,  and  the 
do^rine  of  the  unity  taught  and  explained  in  the 
myjieries.  But  here  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  when 
the  ancients  fpeak  of  myfteries  indefinitely,  they 
generally  mean  the  greater. 

It  hath  been  fhewn,  that  the  Grecian  and  Afiatic 
myfteries  came  originally  from  Egypt.  Now  of 
the  Egyptian,  St.  Auftin  giveth  us  this  remark- 
able account.  —  "  Of  the  fame  nature,  too,  are 
"  thofe  things  which  Alexander  of  Macedon  wrote 
*'  to  his  mother,  as  revealed  unto  him  by  one 
''  Leo^,  chief  hierophant  of  the  Egyptian  myfte- 

•))  (Sia^ofte©-',  oU^u  [/.■nSiv  oclo-^ov  't^uoisIv,  dK\'  utts^  ccvto]  ^to]  S'pSj" 
c:v.  are  y«g  aX>i9ej,  ar*  Et«o;*  «^X' oVfj  ^5*  tojstoii /n^jti/6|:<,a;j,  a- 

s  It  is  not  improbable  but  this  might  be  a  nameof  ofEce. 
Porphyry,  in  his  iv'''  book  Of  Abjiinence,  informs  us,  that  the 
priells  of  the  myfteries  of  Mithras  were  called  lions  ;  the  prieft- 
effes,  lionejjes  ;  and  the  inferior  minifters,  rwvens.  Ts?  ju.'  ccvt^ 
c^ytci/v  ftfraji  Aiovlocq  xuXeTv'  rcc<;  ^t  ywcx.Tx.oc.^,  Asa-'iva^'  f^  S'l  viryi^i- 
'r5v\a.c,  Ko^Kx;.  For  there  was  a  great  conformity,  in  the  pra- 
ftices  and  ceremonies  of  the  feveral  my/Ieries,  throughout  the 
whole  pagan  world.  And  this  conjedlure  is  fupported  by  a 
pallage  in  Eunapius,  which  feems  to  fay,  that  it  was  unlawful 
to  reveal  the  name  of  the  hierophant.  — t3  ^e  'h^cpavl'/i,  xxt' 
siiuvov  Tov  ^ouov  oV's  ^»  TavofAa  s  fAot  Sif*K  T^iytiv  —  in  Maximo.  — 
It  looks  as  if  the  corruptions  and  debaucheries  of  fome  of 
the  myfteries,  in  later  times,  had  made  this  further  provi- 
£on  for  fecrecy. 

"  ries; 


j^S  ^he  Divine  Legation    Book  II, 

«  ries :  whereby  it  appeared,  that  not  only  fuch 
"  as  Picus,  and  Faunus,  and  ji^neas,  and  Romu- 
"  lus,  nayHercules,  and^fculapius,  and  Bacchus 
*'  the  fon  of  Semele,  and  Caftor,  and  Pollux,  and 
*'  all  others  of  the  fame  rank,  had  been  advanced, 
<'  from  the  condition  of  mortality,  into  Gods  ; 
"  but  that  even  thofe  deities  of  the  higher  order, 
"  the  Dii  majorum  gentium,  thofe  whom  Cicero, 
*'  without  naming,  feems  to  carp  at,  in  his  Tufcu- 
"  lans,  fuch  as  Jupiter,  Juno,  Saturn,  Neptune, 
"  Vulcan,  Vefta,  and  many  others  ( vvhomVarro  en- 
*'  deavours  to  allegorize  into  the  elements  or  parts 
"  of  the  world)  were,  in  truth,  only  mortal  men. 
'«  But  the  priefl  being  under  great  fears  and  ap- 
"  prehenfions,  while  he  was  telling  this,  as  con- 
*'  fcious  that  he  was  betraying  the  secret  of 
"  THE  MYSTERIES,  begged  of  Alexander,  when 
"  he  found  that  he  intended  to  communicate  it  to 
"  his  mother^,  that  he  would  enjoin  her  to  burn 
*'  the  letter,  as  foon  as  fhe  had  read  it '." 

^  I  fuppofe  this  communication  to  his  mother,  might  be  to 
let  her  underftand,  that  he  was  no  longer  the  dupe  of  her  fine 
ftory  of  Jupiter's  intrufion,  and  the  intrigue  of  his  divine  origi- 
nal. For  Eratofthenes,  according  to  Plutarch,  fays,  thatOlym- 
pias,  when  fhe  brought  Alexander  on  his  way  to  the  army,  in 
his  firft  military  expedition,  acquainted  him,  in  private,  with, 
the  fecret  of  his  birth  ;  and  exhorted  him  to  behave  himfelf  as 
became  the  fon  of  Jupiter  Hammon.  This,  I  fuppofe,  Alex- 
ander might  tell  to  the  prieil,  and  fo  the  murder  came  out. 

'  In  eo  genere  funt  etiam  ilia  qu^  Alexander  Macedo  fcribit 
ad  matrem,  fibi  a  magno  antiftite  facrorum  ^Egyptiorum  quo- 
dam  LEONE  patefafta  :  ubi  non  Picus  &  Faunus,  &  ^neas  & 
Romulus,  vel  etiam  Hercules  &  ^fculapius,  &  Liber  Semele 
natus,  &  Tyndaridse  fratres,  8c  fi  quos  alios  ex  morcalibus  pro 
diis  habent ;  fed  ipfi  etiam  majorum  gentium  dii,  quos  Ciceio  in 
Tufculanis,  tacitis  nominibus,  videtur  attingere,  Jupiter,  Juno, 
Saturnus,  Neptunus,  Vuicanus,  Vefta,  &  alii  plurimi,  quoi 
Varro  conatur  ad  mundi  partes  five  elementa  transferre,  homi- 
nes fuiffe  proiluntur.  Timcns  enim  &  ille  quafi  revelata  my- 
iicria,  petens  admonet  Alexaiidrum,  ut  cum  ca  matri  conlcri- 

To 


Sed.  4."    of  Moses  demonj? rated,  1^9 

To  underftand  the  concluding  part,  wc  are  to 
know,  that  Cyprian  (who  has  ahb  preferved  this  cu- 
rious anecdote)  tells  us,  it  was  the  dread  of  Alexan- 
der's power  which  extorted  the  fecret  from  the  hie- 
rophant  *".  All  this  well  illuftrates  a  paflage  in  Lu- 
cian's  Ccuncil  of  the  Gcds ;  when,  after  Momus  had 
ridiculed  the  monftrous  deities  of  Egypt,  Jupiter 
replies,  "  It  is  true,  thefe  are  abominable  things, 
"  which  you  mention  of  the  Egyptian  worlhip. 
"  But  then,  confider,  Momus,  that  much  of  it  is 
"  enigmatical ;  and  fo,  confequently,  a  very  unfit 
*'  fubjed;  for  the  buffoonry  of  the  prophane  and 
"  uninitiated."  To  which,  the  other  anfwers  with 
much  fpirir,  "  Yes,  indeed,  we  have  great  occafion 
*'  for  the  MYSTERIES,  to  know  that  Gods  are 
*'  Gods,  and  monfters,  monfters  ^'* 

ButTully  brings  the  matter  home  to  the  Eleu- 
siNiAN  myjieries  themfelves*  "  What  (fays  he)  is 
"  not  almoft  all  heaven,  not  to  carry  on  this  detail 
*'  any  further,  filled  with  the  human  race  ?  But  if 
"  I  Ihould  fearch  and  examine  antiquity,  and  from 
*'  thofe  things  which  the  Grecian  writers  have  de- 
"  livered,  go  to  the  bottom  of  this  affair,  it  would 
"  be  found,  that  even  thofe  very  Gods  themfelves 
"  who  are  deemed  the  Dii  majorum  gentium,  had 
"  their  original  here  below  ;  and  afccnded  from 

pta  infinuaverit,  flammis  jubeat  concremari.     Be  Ci-vU.  Dei, 
lib.  viii.  cap.  i;. 

^  —  metu  fuse  poteftatis  proditum  fibi  de  dils  hominibus  a 
facerdote  SECR.ETUM.  Deldol.Ven.  But  this  is  a  miftake,  at 
lead  it  is  exprefled  inaccurately.  What  was  extorted  by  the 
dread  of  Alexander's  power,  was  not  \)^&  fecret  (which  the  ini- 
tiated had  a  right  to)  but  the  prieft's  confent  that  he  fhould 
co?>wmnicate  the  fecret  to  another,  which  was  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  the  myfteries. 

Alcytf'-  u^  aAjjfiwj  rcivTct  On;  ra  'E%«  '^S  AlyvrP/my'  c^ux;  ^'  tJx, 

y.'JrTov  cM«.     IvinM.  Usivv  ysv  MlSTHPlC\',  uZoO,  oti  ■hi*.7y,  Jj 

"  hence 


i5o  The  Divine  Legation     Book  IL^ 

''  hence  into  heaven.  Enquire,  to  whom  thofe 
"  fepulchres  belong,  which  are  lb  commonly  fliewn 
"  in  Greece.     Remember,  for  you  are  initiated, 

"  WHAT  YOU  HAVE  BEEN  TAUGHT  IN  THE 
"  MYSTERIES  ;  YOU  WILL  THEN  AT  LENGTH 
"    UNDERSTAND  HOW    FAR    THIS    MATTER    MAY 

"  BE  carried"'."  Pie  carries  it  further  him- 
felf ;  for  he  tells  us,  in  another  place,  that  not  on- 
ly the  Eleujlnian  myfteries,  but  the  Sa-mothracian 
likewife,  and  the  Lemnian  taught  the  error  of  po- 
lytheifm,  agreeably  to  this  fyftem  ;  which  fuppo- 
les  all  the  myfteries  derived  from  the  fame  origi- 
nal, and  conftituted  for  the  fame  ends.  "  What 
*'  think  you  (fays  he)  of  thofe  who  alTert,  that 
•'  valiant,  or  famous,  or  powerful  men  have  ob- 
*'  tained  divine  honours  after  death  •,  and  that  thefe 
"  are  the  very  Gods,  now  become  the  objedt  of 
"  our  worfhip,  our  prayers,  and  adoration  ?  Eu- 
*'  HEMERus  tells  us,  whcn  thefe  Gods  died,  and 
"  where  they  lie  buried.  I  forbear  to  fpeak  of  the 
*'  f acred  and  auguji  rites  of  Eleusis  —  I  pafs  by 
*'  Samothrace,  and  the  myfteries  of  Lemnos,  whofe 
*'  hidden  rites  are  celebrated  in  darknefs^  and  amidft 
•'  the  thick  fhades  of  groves  and  for  efts'"  ^* 

"  Quid  ?  totum  prope  ccelum,  ne  plures  perfequar,  nonne 
humano  genere  completum  eft  ?  Si  vero  fcrutari  Vetera,  &  ex 
his  ea,  quse  fcriptores  Graci^e  prodiderunt,  eruere  coner  j  ipfi 
illi,  majorum  gentium  Dii  qui  habentur,  hinc  a  nobis  profedti 
m  coelum  reperiuntur.  Quaere,  quorum  demonftrantur  fepul- 
chra  in  Gr^aVz ;   reminiscere,  qjjoniam    es  initiatus 

qUTE    TRADANTUR    MYSTERIIS;      TUM     DENIQJJE     t^UAM 
HOC    LATE    PATEAT,    INTELLIGES.    Tttfc.  Difp.    lib.  i.    Cap. 

"  Quid,  qui  aut  fortes,  aut  claros  aut  potentes  virostradunt, 
foji  mort£?n  ad  Deos  'ver.ijje,  eosque  efie  ipfos,  quos  nos  colere, 
prccari,  venerarique  foleamus  —  Ab  Euhemero  ^  inortes  iff 
JtpultitriS  demonftrantur  dcorum.  Omitto  Eleujincm  fanftam  iI-» 
km  S<  auguilam  —  Pr^tereo  Samathraciam,  eaque 

JuUu§ 


Sedl.  4.     of  Moses  demonjirated,  16  i 

Julius  Firmicus,  as  may  be  feen  below,  fpeaks 
much  to  the  fame  purpofe,  in  his  book  Of  the 
error  of  paganifm  °. 

Quae  Lemnl 

Nofturno  aditu  occulta  coluntur 

Silveftribus  fepibus  denfa.  De  Nat.Dcor.  lib  J.  cap.  42* 
The  words  that  follow,  are,  "  Quibus  explicatis  ad  rationem- 
*'  que  revocatis,  rerum  magis  natura  cognolcitur,  quam  De- 
•'  orum."  Which  M.  Pluche,  in  his  Hifloirc  duCiel,  brings 
to  prove,  that  the  purpofe  of  the  myfteries  was  not  to  explain 
the  nature  of  the  Gods  j  and  tranflates  thus,  "  Quand  ces  my- 
*'  fteres  font  expliques  &  ramenes  a  leur  vrai  fens,  il  fe  trouve 
**  que  c'ell  moins  la  nature  des  Dieux,  qu'on  nous  y  apprend, 
**  que  la  nature  des  chofes  memes,  ou  des  verites  dont  nous 
*'  avons  befoin."  p.  401.  Hiji.  du  del,  feconde  edit.  But 
had  he  attended  to  the  difpute  carried  on  in  the  dialogue,  from 
whence  thefe  words  of  Cicero  are  quoted,  he  could  hardly 
have  thus  miftaken  the  fenfe  of  his  author.  The  reader  has 
now  the  whole  paffage  before  him  j  in  which  it  is  faid,  that 
Euhemerus  taught  the  nature  of  the  Gods  j  that  they  were 
dead  men  deified  :  and  in  which,  it  is  clearly  enough  intimat- 
ed, that  the  Eleiifinian  and  Samothracian  myfteries  taught  the 
fame  doftrine.  Yet,  according  to  this  tranllator,  Tully  im- 
mediately adds,  that,  "  when  thefe  myfteries  are  explained  and 
"  brought  back  to  their  true  fenfe,  it  is  found,  that  not  fo 
*'  much  the  nature  of  the  Gods  is  taught  in  them,  as  the  na- 
"  ture  of  things,  or  thofe  truths  which  our  wants  require  us 
"  to  be  inftrufted  in."  That  is,  the  myfteries///.^,  and  they  did 
not  teach  the  nature  of  theGods.  But  it  is  not  for  fuch  kind  of 
talk,  that  Cicero  has  been  fo  long  admired.  The  words,  qui" 
bus  explicatis,  ad  ratione?nque  rc-uocatis  &c.  have  a  quite  differ- 
ent meaning.  V^elleius,  the  Epicurean,  had  undertaken  to 
explain  the  nature  of  the  Gods.  Cotta,  the  Academic,  ftiews, 
in  his  anfwer,  that,  under  pretence  of  teaching  the  nature  of 
the  God?,  he,  Velleius,  took  away  all  religion;  juft  as  thofe 
did.  who  faid,  the  notion  of  the  Gods  was  invented  by  poli- 
ticians, for  the  ufe  of  fociety  ;  juft  as  Prodicus  Chius  did,  who 
faid,  men  made  Gods  of  every  thing  they  found  beneficial  to 
them  }  juft  as  Euhemerus  did,  who  laid,  they  were  dead  men 
deified  :  I  forbear  (fays  Cotta)  to  fpeak  of  what  is  taught  ia 
the  myfteries:  and  then  follow  the  words  in  queftion :  '"  Qui- 
*'  bus  explicatis,  ad  rationemque  revocatis,  rerum  magis  na- 
**  tura  cognofcitur  quam  deorum,"  That  is,  "  If  you  will 
**  weigh  (fays  Cotta)  and  confider  all  thefe  opinions,  fo  like 
*'  your  own,    they  will  lead  you  to  the  knowleJge,  not  of  the 

Vol.  I.  M  What 


l62  The  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

What  hath  been  here  faid,  will  let  us  into  the 
meaning  of  Plutarch's  hint,  in  the  following  words 
of  his  tra6t  Concerning  the  ceafing  of  oracles.  "  As  to 
'*  the  myjleries,  in  whofe  reprefentations  the  true 
*'  NATURE  OF  DEMONS  is  clearly  and  accurately 
*'  held  forth,  a  facred  filence,  to  ufe  an  expreflion 
"  of  Herodotus,  is  to  be  obferved  p." 

**  nature  of  the  Gods,  which  you,  Velleius,  propofed  to  dif- 
**  courfe  of,  but  to  the  nature  of  things,  which  is  quite  an- 
**  other  confideration."  Or,  in  clearer  terms,  it  was,  he  tells 
us,  Velleius's  drift  to  bring  men  from  religion  to  naturalifm. 
This  obfervation  is  to  the  purpofc ;  and  fhews  that  Velleius 
had  deviated  from  his  argument.  But  what  M.  Pluche  makes 
him  fay,  is  to  no  body's  purpofe  but  his  own.  In  a  word, 
quibus  erplicatis  &c.  relates  to  all  that  Cotta  had  faid  of  the 
Epicureans — of  thofe  who  made  religion  the  invention  of 
ftatefmen —  of  Prodicus  Chius  —  of  Eihemerus,  and  of  the 
myjuries.  But  M.  Pluche  makes  it  relate  only  to  the  myjieries. 
It  had  hardly  been  worth  while  to  take  this  notice  of  M. 
Pluche's  interpretation  of  Cicero,  had  it  not  been  evident, 
that  his  purpofe  iu  it  was  to  diJguife  the  liberty  he  took  of 
tranfcrlbing  the  general  explanation  of  the  mysteries,  as 
delivered  in  the  firfl:  edition  of  this  volume,  printed  in  1738, 
into  the  fecond  edition  of  his  book,  called  Jiijioire  du  del, 
printed  174.1,  without  the  leaft  notice  or  acknowledgment. 
But  for  a  further  account  of  this  matter,  I  refer  the  reader  to 
a  difrourfe,  intitled  Obfewations  fur  r explication  que  M. 
f  Abbe  Piuche  donne  des  myjieres  I3  de  la  mythologie  des  pay  ens 
dans  fon  Hijloire  du  del,  written  with  much  judgment  and  fo- 
lidity,  by  M.  de  Silhouette  :  who  has  entirely  fubverted  M. 
Pluche's  fanciful  fyflem,  as  well  as  proved,  that  he  took  his 
idea  of  the  myjlerics  from  the  Di'vine  Legation.  It  is  in  the 
fifth  diflertation  of  a  work,  intitled  Dijfertations  fur  rwiion  de 
la  religion,  de  la  morale,  IS  de  la  politique. 

°  Adhuc  fupe'funt  aliae  fuperftitiones,  quarum  fecreta  pan- 
denda  furt  Liberi  &  Libers,  qus  omnia  facns  fenfibus  veflris 
fpecialiter  intimanda  funt,  ut  in  iftis  profanis  religionibus  fcia- 
tisMORTEs  ESSE  HOMiNUM  coNsECRATAs.  Lzi^^r  itaque, 
Jovis  fuit  iilius,  regis  fcil.  Cretici,  &c.  De  errore  profan.  relig. 
cap.  6. 

p.  742.  Sreph.  edit. 

Thus 


Scdl.  4'     ^f  Moses  demonjlrated,  165 

Thus  far  in  dete(5lion  of  polytheifm.  —  With 
regard  to  the  do5irine  of  the  unity ^  Clemens  Alex- 
andrinus  informs  us,  that  the  Egyptian  myfta- 
gogues  taught  it  amongfl  their  greater  fecrets. 
*'  The  Egyptians  (fays  he)  did  not  ufe  to  reveal 
"  their  myfteries  indifcriminately  to  all,  nor  ex- 
"  pofe  their  truths  concerning  their  Gods  to  the 
"  prophane,  b^it  to  thofe  only  who  were  to  fuc- 
"  ceed  to  the  adminiftration  of  the  ftate  :  and  to 
"  fuch  of  the  priefts  as  were  moft  approved,  by 
*'  their  education,  learning,  and  quality  '^." 

But,  to  come  to  the  Grecian  myfteries.  Chry- 
fippus,  as  quoted  by  the  author  of  the  EtymoL 
magnum^  fpeaks  to  this  purpofe.  "  And  Chry- 
"  fippus  fays,  that  the  fecret  dodlrines  concern- 
*'  ing  divine  matters,  are  rightly  called  TEAETAI, 
*'  for  that  thefe  are  the  laft  things  the  initiated 
"  Ihould  be  informed  of:  the  foul  having  gained 
**  an  able  fupport  ;  and,  being  pofiefled  of  her 
*'  defires  \  can  keep  filent  before  the  uninitiated 
*'  and  prophane  '^."  To  the  fame  purpofe,  Cle- 
mens :  "  The  doftrines  delivered  in  the  greater 
•'  myfteries,  are  concerning  the  univerfe.  Here 
"  all  inflrudion  ends.  Things  are  feen  as  they 
*'  are  •,  and  nature,  and  the  things  of  nature,  arc 
'*  given  to  be  comprehended  '." 

^   AiyuVilioi   8  Tor?  cm]v^ci  ra  m^^   aO'iCif  dttll^e^o  /Mvr'?f«» 

Soxii*.u\u7Dii  ^-713   T  <?  Tfo^^r,  )^  T^j  's:a.ih'\a,%  k)  ra   ■}P,'JBf.    Strom, 
lib.  V.  p.  566.  edit  Lut. 
*■  i.  e.  miftrefs  of  herfelf. 

(^^m    l^^fa  yxp  T/)  TO  :z9^o;,   .^^^  .9c£'i  C!>c3c-al  th  lij}x,  y^  tyx^liTi; 
>^i^xi  twTuv.  EiymaL  JuHor,  in  TEAETH. 

'   Tec   ^i    uiyu-7\x   'E%<  Tuv  crviJi.'irdcAu\i'    a  /xav6at'E»  tn    V55rr>iei7rt^j 

"H    2.  Strabo 


164  ^hs  Divine  Legation    Book  IL 

Strabo  having  faid '',  that  nature  dilated  to  men 
the  injlitution  of  the  myjieries^  as  well  as  the  other 
rites  of  religion,  gives  this  remarkable  reafon  for 
his  alTertion,  "  that  the  fecret  celebration  of  the 
*'  myfteries  preferves  the  majefty  due  to  the  di- 
*'  vinity,  and,  at  the  fame  time,  imitates  its  na» 
"  ture,  which  hides  itfelf  from  our  fenfes  ^."  A 
plain  intimation  of  the  nature  of  the  fecret.  And 
had  there  been  any  ambiguity,  he  prefently  re- 
moves it,  where,  fpeaking  of  the  different  faculties 
exercifed  in  the  different  rites  of  religion,  he  makes 
philofophy  to  be  the  objeft  of  the  myfteries ".  Plu- 
tarch exprefly  fays,  that  the  firft  caufe  of  all  things 
is  communicated  to  thofe  who  approach  the  temple 
of  Ifis  with  prudence  and  fandity  ^.  By  which 
words  he  means,  the  necejfary  qualifications  for  in- 
itiation. 

We  have  feen  Cicero  exprefly  declaring,  that 
the  Eleujinian  and  Samothracian  myfteries  were 
partly  employed  in  deteding  the  error  of  poly- 
theifm.  We  Ihall  now  find  Galen  intimating,  not 
obfcurely,  that  the  doftrine  of  the  divine  nature 
was  taught  in  thofe  very  myfteries.  In  his  excel- 
lent trad  Of  the  ufe  of  the  parts  of  the  human  body, 
he  has  thefe  words  —  "  The  ftudy,  therefore,  of 
"  the  ufe  of  the  parts,  is  not  only  of  fervice  to  the 
**  mere  phyfician,  but  of  much  greater  to  him 
*'  who  joins  philofophy  to  the  art  of  healing; 

^  VI  (pvai:;  fcTft';  JffayogjjO'if.  lib.  X. 

^  TiTi  «f:;\]/(;  -^  ^v'^KT,,  Tuv  hpuiv  ai(MO<!ront  To  Ssrov,  [/.ifiSfiSfi^  T»!» 

^vc-if  aJra  b>i(piijyiicav  ij'jjiwc  t  al&'/iJiv.  Here  Strabo  takes  in 
all  that  is  laid,  both  of  the  Gods,  and  of  nature,  in  the  two 
preceding  paffages  from  Chryfippus  and  Clemens;  and  fhews 
that  by  nature  is  not  meant  the  coftnical  but  theological  na- 
ture. 

^  —  y^  To  <Pi7,offo<pi7y. 
—  ojo/Ast^E^  y«g'l<rfiov  u<;  tlaofS/iOv  To  ov,  ni  |H5l»  hoys  «;  oo-js;; 
«Jj  T«  U^  "srajs^vDwftjv  •?■  SeW,      IS.  Kj*  Or. 

I  "  arida 


Se6t.  4-     of  ^Mos^s  demojijlrated,  165 

"  and,  in  order  to  perfect  himfell'  in  this  'niyjierj^ 
*'  labours  to  inveftigate  the  unherfal  nature.  They 
*'  who  iniiiate  themfelves  here,  whether  private 
*'  men  or  bodies,  will  find,  in  my  opinion,  nobler 
"  in[l;rudion  than  in  the  rites  either  of  Eleu- 
*^  SIS  or  Sajjiolhrace''."  By  which  he  means,  that 
the  ftudy  of  the  tife  of  the  parts  of  animals,  leads 
us  ealier  and  fooner  up  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
iirit  Caufe,  than  the  moil  venerable  of  the  myfterieSy 
fuch  as  the  Eleufinian  and  Samothracian.  A  clear 
implication,  that  to  lead  men  thither  was  their 
fpecial  bufinefs. 

But  this  feems  to  have  been  fo  well  known  to 
the  learned  in  the  time  ofEusEBius,  that  where 
this  vv-riter  takes  occafion  to  obfei  ve,  that  the  He- 
brews were  the  only  people  whole  objed:,  in  their 
pj.hlic  and  national  worjJnp-)  was  the  God  of  the 
UNIVERSE,  he  fuits  his  v/hole  expreffion,  by  one 
continued  metaphor,  to  the  ufages  of  the  myjieries. 
"  For  the  Hebrev/  people  alone  (fays  he)  was  re- 
""  feived  the  honour  of  being  initiated  into  the 
"  knowledge  of  God  the  creator  of  all  things, 
*'  and  ol  being  infbruded  in  tiie  praclice  of  true 
"  piety  towartis  him\"  Where,  EnOHTHIA,  which 

C7<'?.f  dE  fAotAXci'  lut^u  (pi\oao(pu ,   T  oAvj?  (pvcr-u;  c/mfi-.J.uj  X-l'/icuo^ai 

(il^cci,   y^  ku.t'  t^v'^,  :-^  K a,r' a. pGi/,0'j   a'vOgwTra?,    o'cci   Ti   f/.vSo'iv  kccv- 
tHc,   H^iv   cifAoiov  Ep/ys-ii/  'EXrf(;5-rn'-i;  ts  Hj  Zaf^uOcaKKJ,-  o.^ylciq.       Gal. 

De  ufu  par.  lib.  .xvii.  Petit,  infccad  of"  laoi  ThuHicru  ici.v]^<;,  reads 
\-ery  ingenioufly  ocroi  tj  f*v<yi7l^  Ixvl-dc. 

-  fAovi)  0^6  tJ  'L'^pci'.u'j'P^siT  EOOnTElAN  civ'Mi^i7c^aiTn^,  ®EO.- 
riAS  la  Tuv  oXuv  OToirla  >^  AHM!01PI0X  <i);a^,  y^  tJj-  si,  cvrov 
csXjjQa?  (^jcriQ'Acc:.  Prap.  E-vm!g.  lib.  i.  cap.  9.  Eufebius  fays. 
Scripture  tells  us  this,  tsto  3  *^  oi  J=^o(  ^..siS'  -//jM-a?  ^i'Sa.jx.ari  /..yot. 
And  fo  indeed  it  does  even  in  the  general  tenor  of  its  hiftory. 
But  1  am  pcrfuaded  this  learned  writer  had  his  eye  on 
feme  particular  paiiage;  probably  on  the  xlv^'^  chapter  oi  Ifaiahy 
ivhere  the  prophet  foretelling  the  conquefls  oi Cyrus,  and  the  ex- 

iVi  3  .    fignifies 


1 66  ^he  Divine  Legation     Book  II . 

fignifies  the  infpeciion  of  the  fecret;  ©EfiPIA,  the 
ccntemplai'wn  ot  it  -,  and  AHMIOYProS,  the  crea- 
tcr,  the  fubjedl  ot  it,  are  all  words  appropriated 
to  th^  fecret  of  the  greater  myjleries. 

JosEPHus  is  ftill  more  exprefii.  He  tells  Apion, 
that  that  high  and  iublime  knowledge,  which  the 
Gentiles  wich  difficulty  attained  unto,  in  the  rare 
and  temporary  celebration  of  their  myfieries^  was 
habitually  taught  to  the  Jews, atall  times.  And  what 
was  this  fublime  knowledge,  but  the  doilrine  of 
the  UNITY  ?  "  Can  any  government  (fays  he)  be 
"  more  holy  thaa  this?  or  any  religion  better  ad- 
"  apted  to  the  nature  oi"  the  Deity  ?  Where,  in  any 
*'  place  but  in  this,  are  the  v/hole  people,  by  the 
*^  fpecial  diligence  of  the  pricils,  to  whom  the  care 
"  of  public  infcruclion  is  committed,  accurately 
'r  taught  the  principles  of  true  piety  ?  So  that  the 

rt!t:ition  of  his  empire,  apoflrophizes  the  God  oi Ifmcl  in  this 
manner,  Ftrily  then  art  a  God  tha'i  hidest  thyselt,  O  God  of 
irrael  tkcSai;kitr,  f  \z^.  This  was  faid  with  great  propriety 
of  the  Creator  of  all  things,  the  fubjeft  of  the  AflOPi';  lA,  or 
Secret,  in  all  the  lr:/^eries  throughout  the  Gentile  World ;  and  par- 
ticularly of  thofe  of  Mithras,  in  that  Country  which  was  the  fcene 
of  the  prophecy.  That  this  is  the  true  ii;ife  of  t!iis  obfcure  pafTage, 
jippears  from  the  following  words  of  the  fame  chapter,  where 
God  himfelf  addreiibth  the  Jewifli  people  :  J  ha-ve  not  fpoketi  in 
SECRET,  IN  A  DARK  PLACE  cf  the  earth:  1  faid  not  unto  the 
feed  cf  Jacob,  Seek  ye  ?ne  IN  vain,  f  19.  This  was  faid, 
to  f;iew  that  he  was  taught  amongil  them  in  a  different 
way  from  that  participation  pf  his  nature  to  a  fe-M  Jeled 
Gentiles,  in  their  il/iv'/m^.c ;  celebrated  in  fecret,  a?2d  in  dark  (nh- 
terraneous  places ;  which  not  being  dons  in  order  to  give  him 
glor)',  by  promoting  his  public  and  general,  wcnliip,  was  done 
j«  tain.  Thefe  were  the  two  places,  (explained  by  one  ano- 
ther) which,  I  piefume,  furniilied^^j/fZ/wj  with  his  obfervation, 
IJja:  for  the  Hebrew  pecple  alcne  i-:as  rejcr'ved  the  hanotir  of  being 
initiated  into  the   kno-cviedge  of  Gcd  the  Creator  of  all  Things,  and  of 

J/eing  inf.ruded  in  the  praciice  cf  true  fiely  tov:ards  him. This 

naturally  leads  u.sto  the  explanation  of  thofe  oracles  o\  Ajcllo, 
quoted  by  EufcHus  \_?rrrp.  Er:a-rtg.  I  ix.  C.  x]  from  Porphyry; 
ti.i  fenfe  of  which  neither  thcfe  ancient  writers,  nor  our  Sir 

"body 


•Sed.  4*     of  yio%^%  demonjirated,         [^165] 

'*  body-politic  feems,  as  it  were,  one  great  affembly^ 
''  conftantly  kept  together,  tor  the  celebration  of 
*'  feme  facred  mysteries.  For  thofe  things 
^'  which  the  Gentiles  keep  up  for  a  few  days  only, 
*'  that  is,  during  thofe  folemnities  they  call  my- 
'■'•  Jieries  and  initiations,  we,  with  vafl  delight, 
"  and  a  plenitude  of  knowledge,  which  admits 
*'  of  no  error,  fully  enjoy,  and  perpetually  con- 
"  template  through  the  whole  courle  of  our  lives. 
"  If"  you  afk  (continues  he)  the  nature  of  thofe 
"  thingr>,  which  in  our  facred  rites  are  enjoined 
*'  and  forbidden  -,  I  anfwer  they  are  fimple,  and 
*^  eafily  underftood.     The  firft  inftrudlion  relates 

John  Mai-Jham  feem  rightly  to  have  undcrftood.  The  firft  is  in 
thefe  Words, 

A'lTTC-iiri  y)  odo-;  iJua'-'-ct^uv,   Tfr^sTcc  re  moKhoy, 

Oi  TO  )iu?\oi  -ujI  cilii  iijuip  'ble-i?MTia^  a,'ir,;. 

The  Wa^;  to  the  Kno^cdge  of  the  Di'-ome'  Nature  is  extremely 
rugged,  and  of  difficult  Afcent.  The  Entrance  is  fe cured  by  bra- 
zen gates,  opening  to  the  ad-venturer;  atid  the  roads,  to  be  paffed 
thro\  impoffible  to  be  defcrih''d.  Thefe,  to  the  -oaf  beneft  of  man* 
kind,  ^.cre  frft  ?narkcd  out  by  //?<?  E G  Y p t i  a K s . 

The  fecond  is  as  follows: 

True  ivifdjm  luas  the  lot  only  of  the  Chaldeans  rtWi^HEEREV/s, 
nvho  ^.'jorfyip  the  gbmernor  of  the  luorld,  the  feif-exifent  deityt 
ivith  pure  and  holy  rites. 

Marfan,  fuppofmg  after  Eufehius,  that  the  same  thing  wa«( 
fpoken  of  iu  both  the  Oracles,  fays,  Certe  nulla  eft  contro-verfa 
qiiin  '3%i'  ftoar^j^ia?,  de  unius  regimine  f've  de  unico  Deo.  re^oerem 
fuerit  ^    rciJilfjna  Ebraorum,  non  item  reBa.  JEgyptioru7n  exifti- 

M   4  "to 


[i66]  'The  Dhine  Legation     Book  IL 

?'  to  the  DEITY,  and  teaches  that  God  contains 
"  ALL  THINGS,  and  is  a  Being  every  way  perfeft 
"  and  happy:  that  he  is  felf-exiftcnt,  and  the  fole 
"  caufe  of  all  exitlence-,  the  beginning,  the  middle, 
"  and  the  end  of  all  things  \"  &c. 


'o~ 


math.  And  again, — T'ei-nm  Apollo  parum  fthi  conjiajis.  \Canon. 
Chron.  p.  255, — 6.  edit.  />-.]  becaufe  in  the  one  Oracle,  the 
Egyptians  are  iaid  to  be  the  f.rft  ;  and  in  the  other,  the  Chal- 
deans and  Hehre^vs  the  ordy  People  who  knew  the  true  God. 
But  they  are  very  confiftent;  they  treat  of  different  things: 
The  firft,  of  tat  Kno^vkdge  o^  the  true  God;  and  the  fecond, 
<i^\i\s  public  TVorJ.':! p.  This  appears  by  the  different  terms  in 
which  the  Oracles  are  delivered:  The  Hebn^ws,  v/hom  the  O- 
racle  by  another  name  calls  Chaldaam,  were  well  knov/n  to 
be  the  only  people  who  publicly  nxo7-Jhiped\kiQ  true  God.  But 
the  knonukdge  of  him  being  likewife  taught,  tho'  tofe-iv,  all 
over  the  Gentile  world,  and  only  in  the  Myjieries,  and  the 
Myfleries  coming,  as  we  have  fliewn,  originally  from  Egypt, 
the  Oracle  fays,  that  the  Egyptians  frji  taught  men  the  kno%vledge 
cf  the  divine  natures.  But  that  it  was  in  this  n.vaj,  his  words 
plainly  intimate : 

which  exadly  defcribe  the  embarrafTed  and  perplexed  condition 
of  the  Initialed  before  they  came  to  the  participation  of  tliis, 
knowledge.  But  when  the  fame  Oracle  fpeaks  of  the  Hebre^'.s'' 
kaowledge  of  God,  he  ufes  a  very  different  language, 

evidently  refpefting  the  calm  and  fettled  ftate  of  public  worfiiip. 
I  will  only  obferve,  tliat  the  frights  and  terrors  to  which  the 
initiated  were  expofcd,  gave  birch  to  all  thofe  metaphorical 
terms  of  Dijjlcidtj  and  Danger  {0  conftantly  employed  by  the 
Oreck  writers,  whenever  they  fpeak  of  the  Communication  of 
the  true  God. 

fc6<2>,    ci^«ife "ov  o-  tLij  h/miA.i'kiiav   tZ'J   iifiu>   lEt^iydliyJitu'J,  titr'TTio  d's 

Noihing 


Sed.  4»    of  Mo ^'ES  demonjirated.  167 

Nothing  can  be  more  explicit  than  the  teftimo- 
ny  of  this  learned  Jew.  He  not  only  alludes  to 
the  greater  myjieries^  by  the  dired:  terms  ot  TtA«- 
rvii  and  (UWfrig/a,  but  ufes  leveral  exprelTions  rela- 
tive to  what  the  gentile  tnyftagogues  taught  therein; 
fuch  as  oirkQ^yjKoi  (puAarhiv  «'  Jiwoiv'^,  referring  to 
the  unfitnefs  of  the  dodrine  of  the  unity,  for  ge- 
neral inftruction  :  fuch  as  /^  aro»\?f  >»  Jovrj^,  in  con- 
tradiftion  to  what  they  taught  of  the  labours, 
pain,  and  difficulties  to  be  encountered  by  thofe 
who  afpired  to  the  knowledge  of  the  firft  cauie  : 
fuch  as  d7r\cu  k,  yvucjiuoi,  in  contradidion  to  wnat 
they  taught  of  the  great  intricacy  and  obfcunty 
of  the  queftion  :  and  fuch,  again,  as  6  ©soV  txi  '^» 
UMlccy  the  charaderiftic  of  the  AHMIOIPFOS  of  the 
myfteries. 

Thus,  I  think,  it  appears,  that  the  AHOPPHTA, 
in  the  greater  myjhries^  were  the  detection  of  the 
origine  of  Y\:i\ga.v  polytheifm^ -,  and  the  difcovery 
of  the  dodlrine  of  the  unity. 

7«3-a,  0  ©£oj  £%«  Ta  "TTxyra.  OTanltAi)?  )c,  jAjaxxfi'^,  avro;  la-irof  Kj 
tJoLa-iv  ccvTu^zr,!;,  "^x/i  >^  ^iycc,  >^  t£>*^  cjX'.tuiv.  Cont .  Ap.  lib.  il. 
cap.  22. 

<=  What  hath  been  faid  will  give  light  to  a  ftrange  ftory  told 
by  Thucydides,  Plutarch,  and  others,  of  a  debauch  and  night- 
ramble  of  Alcibiades,  jufl:  before  his  expedition  io  Syracufe. 
In  which,  they  fay,  he  revealed  to,  and  aded  over  with,  his 
companions;  the  myfleries  of  Ceres:  that  he  aiiunied  the  office 
of  the  hierophant,  and  called  fome  of  thofe  he  miriated  ura*, 
and  others,  Ettg^J!  :  and  that,  laftly,  they  broke  ail  the  ftatues 
of  Hermes.  Thefe  are  mentioned  as  diftinft  afti  ns,  and  un- 
conneded  with  one  another.  But  now  we  fee  their  relation, 
and  how  one  arofe  from  the  other  :  for  Alcibiades  having  re- 
vealed the  origine  of  poly  theifm,  and  the  doilrine  of  the  unity, 
to  his  companions  ;  nothing  was  more  natural  than  for  men, 
heated  with  wine,  to  run  forth,  in  a  kind  of  relig'ous  fury, 
and  break  the  uatues  of  their  idols.  For,  what  he  afted  over, 
Yvas  the  greater  nijjieries,  as  appears  from  Plutarch's  calling 

M  4  I  will 


168  T'he  Dwine  Legation    Book  II. 

I  will  venture  to  go  further ;  and  give  the  ve- 
ry HISTORY  repeated,  and  the  very  hymn  fung, 
on  thefe  occafions  to  the  initiated :  in  the  frft  of 
which  was  delivered  the  true  origine  and  progrefs 
of  vulgar  poly  theifm ;  and  in  the  other,  the  unity 
of  the  deity. 

-  For  it  appears  to  me,  that  the  celebrated  frag- 
ment of  Sanchoniatho,  the  phcenician,  tranf-» 
lated  by  Philo  Byblius,  and  preferved  by  Eufebius, 
containing  a  genealogical  account  of  the  firft  ages, 
is  that  HISTORY,  as  it  was  wont  to  be  read  to  the 
initiated,  in  the  celebration  of  the  egyptian  and 
phcenician  myfteries.  The  purpofe  of  it  being  to 
inform  us,  that  their  popular  Gods  (whofe  chro^ 
nicle  is  there  given  according  to  their  generations) 
were  only  dead  men  deified. 

And  as  this  curious  and  authentic  record  (for 
fuch  we  fhall  find  it  was)  not  only  ferves  to  il- 
luftrate  the  fubjeft  we  are  now  upon,  but  will  be 
of  ufe  to  fupport  what  is  faid  hereafter  of  the  rife, 
progrefs,  and  order  of  the  feveral  fpecies  of  an- 
cient idolatry,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  give  a 
fhort  extraft  of  it  in  this  place. 

I.  He  tells  us,  then,  that,  "  of  the  two  firft  mor- 
tals, Protogonus  and  /Eon,  (the  latter  of  whom 
was  the  author  of  feeking  and  procuring  food 
from  for^ft-trees)  were  begotten  Genos  a,nd  Ge- 
nea.  Thefe,  in  the  tirpe  of  great  droughts,  ftretch- 
cd  their  hands  upwards  to  the  sun,  whom  they  re- 
garded as  a  God,  and  fole  ruler  of  the  heavens. 
From  thefe,  after  two  or  three  generations,  came 
Upfouranios  and  his  brother  Oufous.  One  of  them 
invented  the  art  of  building  cottages  of  reeds  and 

them  the  mvjieries  of  Ceres,  fhe  prefidi'ng  in  the  greater,  as 
proferpine  in  the  lejfer;  and  from  Alcibiades's  calling  fome 
'ETroWi,  the  name  of  thofe  who  participated  of  the  greater 
juylleries, 

rufhess 


Se^t.  4«    o/*  Moses  demonjlrated.         169 

ruflies ;  the  other  the  art  of  making  garments  of 
the  fkins  of  wild  beafts.  In  their  time,  violent 
tempefts  of  wind  and  rain  having  rubbed  the  large 
branches  of  the  foreft-trees  againfb  one  another, 
they  took  fire,  and  burnt  up  the  woods.  Of  the 
bare  trunks  of  trees,  they  firfl  made  veflels  to  pafs 
the  waters;  they  confecrated  two  pillars  to  fire 
and  WIND,  and  then  offered  bloody  facrifices  to 
them  as  to  Gods  ^."  And  here  let  it  be  obferved, 
that  this  worfhip  of  the  elements  and  heavenly  bodies 
is  truly  reprefented  as  the  first  Ipecies  of  idola- 
try. 

II.  "  After  many  generations,  came  Chryfor ; 
and  he  likewife  invented  many  things  ufefuUto  ci- 
vil life ;  for  which,  after  his  deceafe,  he  was  wor- 
fhiped  as  a  God  ^.  Then  flourifhed  Ouranos  and 
his  fifter  Ge  -,  who  deified  and  offered  facrifices  to 
their  father  Upfiftos,  when  he  had  been  torn  in 
pieces  by  wild  beafts  ^.  Afterwards  Cronos  con- 
fecrated Muth  his  fon,  and  was  himfelf  confecrated 

"  Aluvct  xj  Hpu'ioyovov  Sc^lisf  uv^^a,^,  Stu  x.u>>si*'i)iii^'  tvpm  ^\  Top 
Aiuvx  tIuj  ^ot  Tuv  divofcjy  Tfo^riv.  hit  WTUV  TaV  'p^oyiivsi  k\wxvoh 
raof ,  >^  Tivicty  —  ccv^q*.uv  Oi  '^oj^ivaiv,  Ta?  %£'"fa?  ofifeiv  ejj  Qpccvn^ 
CB-po;  Tof  yjXioi/.  ruTov  yap,  <pi)a],  hto\i  bvoi^tCos  f/^ovov  epccm  xtipoii— - 
£»T«  ^jjcTi  ToK  l-^apdviov  olx.r;crai  Tvpov,  kccKv^oc^  re  amvoiiaai  hiii 
xct'Ka.yi.tiiVfiCj  Qpvuv,  )Cj  'BJo.TTvp'Mv'  T0t,cnci<7Ui  ^\  'sxpoi;  Ton  (xhX(povOv7tt)ov, 
ci  crziTrUu  tu  aufjLctli  'arpcor^  \k  otpfjiXTuv  u\t'li7^v(7i  avXKxQuv -^"npi- 

hy  ri)  Tvpu  oivopoi.  tuvp  ccvd-i^on,  xj  tUu  aJrsGj  vXlw  Kcclcc(pXi^xi. 
«ivd pe  ot'Ka.Qo (^jov  to\i  'Ovauov  i^  d'TroxXx^ttja-xvla.  i^^corovTof^iA.ricTa.t 
sU  ^ci>.ix,Drctv  ijjoQr.vcci'  dutpuaa-i  SI  Svo  ^-/iXcci;  <mv^i  Ts  >^  TiTntj [aoTu  k^ 
^^0(TXWjr>acn,   a(/,^  T£  axTBtoeiv  avracTc,  'Ji_  civ  vty^evs  .^yj^iwy. 

^   ■  c^  uv  yiviSicn  Svo  aiJjTi^a?  aiS-zi^H  £vp£^«?,  kJ  <^  rara  spf*- 

p'ictci'  uv  ^dri^o*  T^y  "Hipajf-or.  tv^uv  Si  x^  olyKirpoHf  »t)  S:Xs»^,  y^ 
ep/xian',  xj  a-yiS'iOLv'  ts^uTw  te  'VtxvIui  di^^uTtu*  'vr'Kivacn.  Sto  x^  cJj 
Stcv  uvTCJV  [Aild  Bdvdlo'j  laiQd^rjauv, 

O  St  r^ruv  <mc£\r,p  h  t^^ro^  \y.  cv^o.'Knc,  Sjjgtw?  mih.iv'lnact';  d^a- 
ffc9»,    cJ  x)  XO«S  xj  Svcria?  ol  'ro-«r^£f  tTiXtcrccv. 

S   —"  Kaj  /X£T  a  CEToAy,    tr^^oti  ocvtS  laccTSa,  2^  'Vicc%  ovoaa^oi3jj- 

'  by 


i^o  ^he  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

by  his  fubjeflsB."  And  this  is  as  truly  reprefented 
to  be  the  second  fpecies  of  idolatry  ;  the  worJJjtp 
of  dead  men. 

III.  He  goes  on,  and  fays,  that  "  Ouranos  was 
the  mventor  of  the  Baetylia,  a  kind  of  animated 
Hones,  framed  with  great  art ''.  And  that  Taautus 
formed  allegoric  figures,  chara6ters,  and  images  of 
the  celeftial  Gods  and  elements '."  In  which  is 
delivered  the  third  fpecies  oii<\o\2iX.ry^Jlatue  and 
brute  worjhip.  For  by  the  animated  ftones,  is  meant 
ftones  cut  into  a  human  Ih.ape  '^  •,  brute,  unform- 
ed ftones  being  before  this  invention  confecrated 
and  adored.  As  by  Taautus's  invention  of  allego- 
ric figures,  is  infmuated  (what  was  truly  the  tadl) 
the  origine  of  orute  woifhip  ^  from  the  ufe  of 
hieroglyphics. 

This  is  a  very  fliort  and  imperfed:  extrafl  of  the 
fragment  \  many  particulars,  to  avoid  tedioufnefs, 
are  omitted,  which  would  much  fupport  what  wc 
are  upon,  particularly  a  minute  detail  of  the  prin- 
cipal arts  invented  for  the  ufe  oi  civil  life.  But 
what  has  been  felefted  on  this  head,  will  afford  a 
good  comment  to  a  celebrated  paffage  of  Cicero, 
quoted,  in  this  feffion,  on  another  occafion.  —  As 
the  two  important  doftrines^  taught  in  fecret^ 
were  the  detection  of  polytheifm^  and  the  difcovery  • 
of  the  unity  •,  fo,  the  two  capital  doftrines  taught 
more  openly,  v/ere  the  origin  of  fociety  with  the 

vri^ov  (Alice  liui  tS  |3ia  riXevrrio  eJ?  tok   ra  Kpovs  drtftx.  xafitEfu;- 

i  __  ^po  Jj  TeTiiiii  SiO?  Taat/lo;  f*»fti?(Ta'fAEv®'  Ton  OvptXMov  ran  5iu* 
ro»%W<yv  j(;a^ax'I?f«?,  &C. 

^  So  when  the  Egyptians  firft  faw  the  Grecian  artifts  fepa- 
rate  the  legs  of  their  Itatues,  they  put  fetters  on  theijij,  to  pre- 
vent their  running  away. 

'  See  Di'-j.  Leg.  book  iv.  §  .f. 

^rts 


Sed.  4»     <?/*  Moses  demonftrated,  171 

arts  of  life,  and  the  exiflence  of  the  foul  after 
death  in  a  ftate  of  reward  or  punifhments.  Thefe 
latter  dodlrines  Tully  hints  at  in  the  following 
words  :  "  —  mihi  cum  multa  eximia  divinaque  vi- 
"  dentur  Athenas  peperiffe  —  turn  nihil  melius  il- 
•"  lis  myfteriis,  quibus  ex  agresti  immanique  vi- 
^'  ta  EXCULTI  ad  humanitatem  &  mitigati  fumus: 

«'  neque  folum  cum  l^titiavivendi  rationem  ac- 

"  cepimus,  fed  etiam  cum  fpe  meliore  moriendi.'"" 
The  fragment  explains  what  Tully  meant  by 
merCs  being  drawn  by  the  myjieries  from  an  irrational 
and  favage  life^  and  tamed,  as  it  were,  and  broken 
to  humanity,  It  was,  we  fee,  by  the  information 
given  them,  concerning  the  origine  of  fociety,  and 
the  inventors  of  the  arts  of  life ;  and  the  rewards 
they  received,  from  grateful  pofterity,  for  making 
themfelves  benefa6lors  to  mankind.  Tully,  who 
thought  this  a  ftrong  excitement  to  public  virtue, 
provides  for  it  in  his  Laws:  —  "  Divos  &eos  qui 
^'  cseleftes  femper  habiti,  colunto  :  &  olios,  quos 
f'  endo  crelo  merit  a  locaverunt  Herculem,  Li- 
."  berum,  i^Lfculapium","  &c. 

The  reafons  which  induce  me  to  think  this  frag- 
ment the  very  Hifiory  narrated  to  the  'EttoV^),  in 
the  celebration  of  the  greater  myfteries,  are  thefe  : 

I.  It  bears  an  exad  conformity  with  what 
the  ancients  tell  us  that  Hifiory  contained  in  gene- 
ral, namely,  an  inftrudion,  that  all  the  national 
Gods,  as  well  thofe  majorum  (fuch  as  Hypfiftus, 
Ouranos,  and  Cronos)  as  thofe  minorum  gentium^ 
■were  only  dead  men  deified  :  together  with  a  re- 
commendation of  the  advantages  of  civil  life  above 
the  ftate  of  nature,  and  an  excitement  to  the  mod 
confiderabie  of  the  initiated  (the  [wnmatihus  virisy 
as  Macrobius   calls  them)  to  procure  it.     And 

*^  De  Lcgg.  lib.  ii.  cap.  14.. 
*  De  Leg^  lib.  ii.  cap.  8. 

thefe 


172  ^he  Divine  Legation    Book  IL 

thcfe  two  ends  are  ferved  together,  in  the  hiftory 
of  the  rife  and  progrefs  of  idolatry  as  delivered  in 
this  fragment.  In  the  date  it  gives  to  the  origine 
of  idolatry,  they  were  inftruded  that  the  two  firft 
mortals  were  not  idolaters,  and  confequently,  that 
idolatry  was  the  corruption  of  a  better  religion  j 
a  matter  of  importance,  where  the  purpofe  was 
to  difcredit  polytheifm.  The  Hiftory  fhews  us 
too,  that  this  had  the  common  fate  of  all  corrup- 
tions, of  falling  from  bad  to  worfe,  from  elementary 
worfhip  to  human ^  and  irom  human  to  brutal.  But 
this  was  not  enough  ;  it  was  neceffary  too  to  ex- 
pofe  the  unreafonablenefs  of  all  thefe  modes  of  fu- 
perftition.  And  as  this  could  be  only  done  by  fhew- 
ing  what  gave  birth  to  the  feveral  fpecies,  we  are 
told,  that  not  any  occult  or  metaphyfic  influences 
of  the  heavenly  or  elementary  bodies  upon  men, 
but  their  common  phyfical  effed:s  telt  by  us,  occa- 
fioned  the  firft  worftiip  to  be  paid  unto  them  :  that 
no  imaginary  divinity  in  the  minds  of  patriarchs 
and  heroes,  occafioned  grateful  pofterity  to  bring 
them  into  the  number  of  the  Gods  -,  but  a  warm 
fenfe  for  what  they  had  invented  for  the  introd- 
udlion  and  promotion  of  civil  life  :  and  that  even 
brute  worftiip  was  brought  in  without  the  leaft  con- 
fideration  to  the  animal,  but  as  its  figure  was  a 
fymbol  only  of  the  properties  of  the  two  other 
Ipecies.  Again,  in  order  to  recommend  civil  life, 
and  to  excite  men  to  promote  it's  advantages,  a 
lively  pi6ture  is  given  of  his  miferable  condition, 
and  how  obnoxious  he  was,  in  that  ftate,  to  the 
rage  of  all  the  elements,  and  how  imperfedly, 
while  he  continued  in  it,  he  could,  with  all  his  in- 
duftry,  fence  againft  them,  by  food  of  acorns,  by 
cottages  of  reeds,  and  by  coats  of  ftcins :  a  matter 
the  myjleries  thought  fo  neceflary  to  be  imprefled, 
that  we  find,  by  Diodorus  Siculus,  there  was  a 

fcenica! 


Sed.  4'     ?/  MosF.s  demonji rated.  173 

fcenical  reprefentation  of  this  ftate  exhited  in  their 
Jhews.  And  what  ftronger  excitement  had  heroic 
minds,  than  to  be  taught,  as  they  are  in  this  frag- 
ment, that  pubHc  benefits  to  their  fellow  creatures 
were  rewarded  with  immortaUty.  As  all  thefe 
things,  therefore,  fo  eflential  to  the  inftrudion 
of  the  myfteries,  are  here  taught  v/ith  an  art  and 
difpofition  peculiarly  calculated  to  promote  thofc 
ends,  we  have  realbn  to  conclude,  that  this  Hiitory 
was  compofed  for  the  ufe  of  the  myjieries. 

2.  My  fecond  reafon  tor  fuppofing  it  to  be 
that  very  Hiftory,  is  our  being  coid,  that  Sancho- 
niatho  tranfcribed  the  account  iTom  lecret  records, 
kept  in  the  penetralia  of  the  temples,  and  written 
in  a  facred  facerdotal  character,  called  the  Animo- 
nean°,  from  the  place  where  they  were  firft  de- 
pofited-,  which,  as  Mariham  reafonably  fuppofes, 
was  Ammonno,  or  Thebes,  in  Egypt  ^ :  a  kind  of 
writing  employed,  (as  we  have  (hewn  eifewhere) 
by  the  hierophants  of  the  myfteries. 

3.  Thirdly,  we'are  informed,  that  this  facred 
commentary  was  compofed  by  the  Cabiri,  ac 
the  command,  and  by  the  diredlion  of  Thoth"!. 
Now  thefe  Cabiri  were  the  principal  hierophants 
of  the  myjieries.  The  name  Cabiri  is,  indeed,  ufcd 
by  the  ancients  indifferently,  to  fignify  three  feve- 
ral  perfons  -,  the  Gods,  in  whofe  honour  the  myfte- 
ries were  inftituted ;  the  infiitutors  of  the  myfte- 
ries-, and  the  principal  hierophants  who  officiated  . 
in  them.     In  the  firft  fenfe  we  find  it  u/ed  by  He- 


A(/,[/jOwtuj  y^ff,f^a.ai  avyx.ei[A,ivon;,  cc  ^ri  tiK  »}»  •mciai  yvu^ij^cty  T'/jj/  ^a- 
P  Chron.  Can.  p.  234.  Lond.  edit. 

'T^a.lSii  KABEirOI,  t^  cyh^   «Jt*>  ««ii;M^ci  'AffHT^TimUf   ui  aJ^wi 

rodotus. 


174  ^^  Divine  Legation     Book  11, 

rodotiis,  who  fpeaks  of  the  images  of  the  Ca- 
biri  in  the  egyptian  temples' ;  and  by  the  fchohafi: 
on  Apollonius,  who  tells  us,  there  were  four  la- 
mothracian  Cabiri,  Axieros,  Axiokerfa,  Axioker- 
fos,  and  Cafmilus ;  that  is  to  fay^  Ceres,  Profer- 
pine,  Pluto,  and  Mercury.  Paufanias,  inhis5<?- 
ctics,  ufes  the  word  in  the  fecond  fenfbj  where  he 
makes  mention  of  the  Cahh-i  Prometheus  and  his 
fon  ^tnseus,  to  whom  was  committed  the  facred 
depofit  of  the  myfteries  by  Ceres  ^.  And  Strabo 
ufes  it  in  the  third  fenfe,  where  he  fpeaks  of  the 
Cabiri  as  minifters  in  the  facred  myfteries  ^  It  is 
no  wonder  there  fhould  be  this  difference  amongfl: 
the  ancients  in  their  accounts  of  thefe  Wights.  The 
Cabiri  was  a  facred  appellation,  which  was  trans- 
ferred from  the  God  of  the  myfteries,  through  the 
injiitutors  of  them,  down  to  the  minijiers  who 
officiated  in  them.  And  in  this  laft  fenfe  it  is 
ufed  by  Sanchoniatho.  The  fame  kind  of  confu- 
fion,  and  proceeding  from  the  fame  caufe,  we  find 
in  the  ancient  accounts  concerning  the  founder  of 
the  Eleiifinian  myfteries,  as  we  ftiall  fee  hereafter ; 
fome  afcribing  the  inftitution  to  Ceres  or  Tripto- 
lemus,  the  Gods  in  whofe  honour  they  were  cele- 
brated ;  others,  to  Ereftheus,  who,  indeed,  found- 
ed  them;   and  others  again,  to  Eumolpus  and 

^  Kaj/.CyV»i?  —  lar^i  Je  xJ  Ij  tw»  KaQeipuv  to  t^ov,  ec  tJ  a  Ss/x;- 
"j-ov  S^  laiivixi  a>0\ov  yt  57  tov  l^ix.  Tavroc  ^i  t  dya.'h^ctia,  >cj  w'STTjj}* 
trzy  'moX\»  Ko.laa-KU'^ce,^.  lib.  iii.   cap.  37. 

fSp  ^»)  r»  h  Zi^cf.KCk\oi^vxri,  kJ  Ta  I?  a,urr,y  yivu^iva,,  hh.  \<pcciViioo(7i<iV 
l^ot  y^d(peiv.      A»)(x,»j]fos   yiv  Ka€«faioK  ^wpJv  '6lr.v  ij  Ti'hil^.     BoEOtt 

lib.  ix.  cap.  25. 

■■  — ruv  (XEr,  Ts?  aJra;  Toiq  Kaf>5ci  Ta?  Ko«t<'feaKla?  xj  KABEI- 
FOYS  xj  l^aia?  A«xly?\a?,  xj  T£?^;v;u«;  jJroipajfui'Tw*'  twh  ^s  vvy 
y£v«?  «M'/7>>wv,  xj  i/AK^ec^  Tr.aj  «uVwf  -zr/.o;  aAA'^Aa?  ^Jc/.tpo^i  2i/st- 
rf?i7v9viw».  lib.  X. 

MufsEUS 


Se£t.  4.      ^  M  o  s  E  s  demonjl rated.  175 

Mufeus,  the  firft  who  miniftred  there  in  the  office 
ofhierophants. 

4.  But,  fourthly  and  laftly,  we  are  told,  that 
when  this  genealogical  hiftory  came  into  the  hands 
of  a  certai'n  fon  of  Thabion,  the  firft  l.ierophant 
on  record  amongft  the  Phoenicians,  he,  after  hav- 
ing corrupted  it  with  allegories,  and  intermixed 
phyfical  and  cofmical  affedions  with  hiftorical  (that 
is,  made  the  one  iignificative  of  the  other)  deli- 
vered IT  TO  THE  PROPHETS  OF  THE  ORGIES, 
AND      THE      HIEROPHANTS     OF     THE       MYSTERIES  ; 

who  left  it  to  their  fuccefibrs  (one  of  which  was 
Ofiris)  and  to  the  initiated  \  So  that  now  we 
have  an  exprefs  teftimony  lor  the  fad  hereadvanced, 
that  this  was  the  very  history  read  to  the  'E7;oV3)  in 
the  celebration  of  \\iz  greater  my V. erics. 

But  one  thing  is  too  remarkable  to  pafs  by  iin- 
obfcrved :  and  that  is,  Sanchoniatho's  account  of  the 
corruption  of  this  hi^.ory  with  allegories  and  phyfical 
affecfions^  by  one  of  his  own  countryir.en-,  and  of 
it's  delivery,  in  that  ftate,  to  the  Egyptians,  (for 
Ifiris  is  the  fam^e  as  Ofiris)  who  corrupted  it  ftill 
more.  That  the  pagan  mythology  was,  indeed, 
thus  corrupted,  I  have  fliewn  at  large,  in  feveral 
parts  of  this  work:  but  I  beheve,  not  fo  early 
as  is  here  pretended:  v/l;ich  makes  me  fufped  that 
Sanchoniatho  lived  in  a  later  age  than  his  inter- 
preter, Philo,  affigns  to  him.  And  what  confirms 
me  in  this  ful'nicion,  is  that  mark  of  national  va- 
nity and  partiality,  common  to  after-times,  in 
making  tht  iftyjteries  of  his  own  country  original, 
and  conveyed  from  Phcrnicia  to  Egypt.     Where- 

isu^iatv   d-JuA^ui   'laaej^a.'fii    7o7:   QVIMI'EX    kJ    lEAETr.N    kxia.^- 
;)^s<Tt  nPG'iH'IAir.   ti  Js  rev   tJ^cv    civLeriD  i>t  ira.'Mi   amnoSiP.ii,   v-*5 

iM   8  '  as 


176  7he  Dhine  Legation     Book  11. 

as  it  is  very  ccrraii,  they  came  firft  from  Egypt. 
But  of  this,  el  ft  where.  However,  let  the  reader  take 
notice,  thvit  the  queftion  concerning  the  anliquity 
of  Sanchoniatho  does  not  at  all  affed:  our  infer- 
ence concer.Mng  the  nature  and  ufe  of  this  hi- 
ftory "-". 

We  now    come   to  the   hymn   celebrating  the 

unity  of  the  gochead,  which  was  fung  in  the  Eleu- 

finian  myilenes  by   the  hierophant,  habited  like  the 

creator".     And  this,  I  take  to  be  the  Jittle  or- 

"^  A  criticirm  of  that  very  knowing  and  fagacious  writer,  Ta- 
ther  Simon  of  tlie  Oratory,  will  fliew  the  reader  how  ground- 
lefs  the  fufpicions  of  learned  men  are  concerning  the  genuine- 
nefs  of  this  fragment.  Father  Simon  imagines  that  Porphy- 
ry forged  the  hiltory  of  Sanchoniatho,  under  the  name  of  a  ti\inf- 
lation  by  Philo  Byblius ;  and  conjeftures,  his  purpcfe  in  fo  doing 
was  to  fupport  paganifm ;  by  taking  from  it,  its  mythclcgy  and 
allegories,  which  the  chriftian  writers  perpetually  objeded  toi 
it.  "  II  fe  peut  faire  —  pour  repondre  aux  objeftions  qu'on 
"  leur  faifoit  de  toutes  parts,  furce,  que  leur  Theologie  ctoit 
"  une  pure  Mythologie  —  ils  remonterent  jufques  aux  terns 
*'  qui  avoient  precede  les  allegories  &  les  fiftions  des  facrifica- 
"  teurs."  Bib.  Crit.  vol.  i.  p.  140.  But  this  learned  man 
totally  miftakes  the  cafe.  The  chriftians  objefted  to  vulgar 
paganifm,  that  the  llories  told  of  their  Gods,  were  immoraL 
To  this  their  priefls  and  philofopliers  replied,  that  thefe  ftories 
were  only  mythological  allegories,  v/hich  veiled  all  the  great 
truths  of  Theology,  Ethics,  and  Phyfics.  The  chriftians  faid,- 
this  could  not  be  j  for  that  the  fiories  of  the  Gods  had  a  fub- 
fiantial  foundation  in  fa£i,  thefe  Gods  being  only  dead  men 
deified,  who,  in  life,  had  like  paiTions'  and  infirmities  witli 
others.  For  the  truth  of  which  they  appealed  to  fuch  writers 
as  Sanchoniathb,  v/ho  had  given  the  hiftory  both  of  their  mor- 
tal and  immortal  ftations  and  conditions.  How  then  could  ftf 
acute  an  advcrfary  as  Porphyry,  deeply  engaged  in  this  con- 
troverfy,  fo  far  miftake  the  llate  of  the  quellion,  and  ground? 
of  his  defence,  as  to  forge  a  book  in  fupport  of  his  caufe,  which 
totally  overthrew  it  ? 

vet.  ra  h[y^^vc7^  hcnitvx^fl-ii.  Eufeb.  Pr^/*.  E'vang.  lib.  iii.  A 
pauage  in  Porphyry  v»'ell  explains  this  of  Eufebius,  and  fhev,'st 
what  kind  of  perfonage  the  creator  was  reprefented  by  j  and 
that  it  was,  like  all  the  re!i,  of  Egyptian  original  j  and  in- 

l'  H 1 C 


$e6l.  4.     of  Mo  sus  demonfirated.  177 

PHic  poem  quoted  by  Clemens  Alexandrinus  y 
and  Euiebius^;  which  begins  thus:  "  I  will  de- 
"  clare  a  secret  to  the  Initiated;  but  let  the 
"  doors  be  fliut  againft  the  profane.  But  thou, 
"  O  Mufeus,  the  offspring  of  bright  Selene,  at- 
"  tend  carefully  to  my  fong;  fori  fhall  deliver 
"  the  truth  without  dilguife.  Suffer  not,  there- 
"  fore,  thy  former  prejudices  to  debar  thee  of 
*'  that  happy  life,  which  the  knowledge  of  thefe 
"  fublime  truths  will  procure  unto  thee :  but  care- 
"  fully  contemplate  this  divine  oracle,  and  prc- 
"  ferve  it  in  purity  of  mind  and  heart.  Go  on, 
"  in  the  right  way,  and  fee  the  sole  govern- 
"  OR  of  the   world  :     he    is  one,    and  of 

"  himself  alone  i  AND  TO  THAT  ONE  ALL 
"  THINGS  OWE  THEIR  BEING.  He  OPERATES 
"  THROUGH  ALL,  WAS  NEVER  SEEN  BY  MOR- 
"  TAL  EYES,  BUT  DOES  HIMSELF  SEE  EVERY 
"    GNE^" 

troduced  into  thefe  fecret  mylteries,  for  the  reafon  above  ex- 
plained. 'Ya.'Si'vZv  AirTHTliiN  'Era'X;!' TOiatTct  9-/j(7J»  i'%a>  o-JfA- 
Qto-Kcc.  Tlv  AHMIOTPfON,  oi-  Ky5ip,  oi  Aiy'jTrl.ov  •crficraro^-E-Jao-n' 
AN©PSmOEIAH,   T^v  l\  ^rAxv  Ui  KvxvS  i/J'hst.'.^  h/oClx,  y.^ximrx 

OTl  AOrOI  ATZETPETOS  KAl    KEKPIMLNCT,    K.-M^  OT   ^A- 

r5  rflB:S  (p6a-ic  hv  x^  xi(pxh^  khtm.  apud  Eufeb.  Fr^p.  Evafrg. 
lib.  iii.  cap.  1 1 . 

y  Admonit'io  ad  gent es, 

^  ?r(Cp.  Eiiang.  lib.  xiii. 

M«o-«r',   'JI--.U-  yu^  uM^Bci,  yyr.U  in  -ret  -nr^iii 
El?  01  y^iyov  ^i7ov  j3X/4'«Ti   TKTW  'srfjndf.^j:, 
'ArfXTc-fla'   ^jiitiv  ^''  icrL^a,  a£&crf*o»o  a.)ia.>L\x. 
'E»  ^'  uvToTi  o-VTc;   -de^ntJE^'   ^"^  ''"''  *'-'""' 

Vol.  I.  N  The 


178  The  Divine  Legation     Book  II, 

The  reafons  which  fupport  my  conjecture 
are  thefe :  i .  We  learn  from  the  fchohaft  on  Ari- 
(lophanes  and  others,  that  hymns  were  fung  in 
the  myfteries.  2.  Orpheus,  as  we  have  faid,  firfl 
brought  the  myfteries  from  Egypt  into  Thrace, 
and  even  rehgion  itfelf :  hence  it  was  called  Q^vj- 
cKeioc,  as  being  fuppofed  the  invention  of  the  Thra- 
cian.  3.  The  verfes,  which  go  under  the  narrie 
of  Orpheus,  are,  at  leaft,  more  a;ncient  than  Plato 
and  Herodotus  -,  though  fince  interpolated.  It  was 
the  common  opinion,  that  they  were  genuine ;  and 
thofe  who  doubted  of  that,  yet  gave  them,  to  the 
eariieft  Pythagoreans^.  4.  The  fubjecl  of  them 
are  the  myfteries,  under  the  feveral  titles  of*^ 
0^ov»(r,uo}  jUjjI^oi'o;,  TfAflijM,  h^ci  ^oy©^,  and  jj  «'?  k^^ 
Ktx^xQoca-i?.  5.  Paufanias  tells  iis,  that  Orpheus's 
hymns  were  fung  in  the  rites  of  Ceres,  in  prefer- 
ence to  Homer's,  though  more  elegant,  for  the 
reafons  given  above''.  6.  This  hymn  is  addrefied 
to  Muil^us,  his  difciple,  who  was  faid,  though 
falfeiy,  to  inftitute  the  myfteries  at  Athens,  as  his 
mafter  had  done  in  Thrace''  -,  and  begins  with  the 
formula  ufed  by  the  myftagogue  on  that  occafion, 
warning  the  prophane  to  keep  at  diftance :  and 
in  the  fourth  line,  mentions  that  new  life  or  rege- 
neration, to  which  the  initiated  were  taught  to 
afpire.     7.  No  other  original,  than  the  fmging  the 

^  hzcrimsin  Vita  Pythag.  and  Suidas,  voce'Oe(pc<;'j. 
^  The  following  pafi'age  of  Dion.  Chryf.  will  explain  tire 
meaning   of  this   (^(mtj^lq  — -  K«G«7rsf)  eluBxatv  iv  iru   Kcc?\iiiMfu/ 

fdt/'eiv.  Orat.  xii. 

lihv   'lilac,   iKctrov  Tf  ocuTut,   c/th  ^ftx^urccloy,   >c)  to  avf/.va.'/  ax  Ij  at' 

c'euf^hoti'   xoffiAu)  ytt  ori  T  \irZv  ^i^t^iTa.  (p'=f(iiv\o  oM,  ^^J'  "0/K-/;f«  yt  T»f 
tfAii??'   TtfA^coe  \iL  Ta  S=ia  x^  I?  •ufKinv  utuMuv  £'%«o-t.   Paiifan.  lib.  ix. 
cap.  30.  fub  fin.  and  again,  to  the  fame  purpofe,  cap.  27. 
"  Tertull.  Apol. 

hymns 


hymns  of  Orpheus  in  the  Eleiifinian  myfterles,  can 
be  well  imagined  of  that  popular  opinion,  men- 
tioned by  Theodoret,  that  Orpheus  inftituted  thofs 
myfleries^  when  the  Athenians  had  fuch  certain 
records  of  another  founder,  8.  We  are  told  that 
one  article  of  the  Athenians'  charge  againft  Dia- 
goras  for  revealing  the  myileries,  was  his  making 
the  Orphic- fpeech^  or  hymn,  the  fubjeft  of  his  com- 
mon converfation  s.  ^.  But  laftly,  the  account^ 
which  Clemens  gives  of  this  hymn,  feems  to  put 
the  matter  out  of  queftion :  his  words  are  thefe  : 
*'  But  the  Thracian  myftagogue,  who  was  at  the 
*'  fame  time  a  poet,  Orpheus^  the  fon  of  Oeager, 
"  after  he  had  opened  the  myfteries,  and  fung  the 
"  whole  theology  of  idols,  recants  all  he  had  faid, 
"  and  introduceth  Truth.  The  Sacreds  then  truly 
"  begin,  though  late,  and  thus  he  enters  upon  the 
"  matter  \"  To  underftand  the  force  of  this  paf- 
fage,  we  are  to  know,  that  the  myftagogue  ex- 
plained the  reprefentations  in  the  myfteries;  where, 
as  we  learn  from  Apuleius  '\  the  fupernal  and  in- 
fernal Gods  pafled  in  review.  To  each  of  thefe 
they  fung  an  hymn  ;  which  Clemens  calls  the  theo- 
logy of  images^  or  idols.  Thefe  are  yet  to  be  ^^t.x\ 
amongft  the  works  afcribed  to  Orpheus.  When  all 
this  was  over,  then  came  the  AIIOPPHTA,  deliver- 
ed in  the  hymn  in  queftion.  And,  after  that,  the 
aflembly  was  difmiffed,  with  thefe  two  barbarous 

^  See  note  (n)  p   138, 

KON  £K  (^'-o-ci/  xalaltS/ili  -AOrON,  x^  -a.  Iv  \7,:lffTv,,  )^  tu  t 
Kahii^m  ^-/!j%^(0'oi1(  /xvf'lqia.  Athenagoras  in  Legat. 

Admon.  ad  Geiita. 

'  Acceffi  confinium  mortis  deos  inferos,  &  deos  fuperos  ac- 
Oeffi  coram,  &  adoravi  de  proximo.  Met.  lib.  xi. 

N   2  wordsj 


i8o  ^:>e  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

words,  KOrH  OMIIAH,  which  fhews  the  myfteries 
not  to  have  been  originally  Greek.  The  learned 
Mr.  Le  Clerc  well  obferves,  that  this  feems  to  be 
only  an  ill  pronunciation  oi"  kots  and  omphets,  v/hich, 
he  tells  us,  fignify  in  the  Phoenician  tongue,  watch 
end  abfiain  from  evil  ^. 

Thus  the  reader  fees  the  end  and  ufe  both  of  the 
greater  and  lejfer  myjleries  :  and  that,  as  well  in 
what  they  hid,  as  in  what  they  divulged,  all  aimed 
at  the  benefit  of  the  ftate.     To  this  end,  they  were 
to  draw  in  as  many  as  they  could  to  their  general 
participation  •,  which  they  did  by  fpreading  abroad 
the  dodrine  of  a  providence,  and  a  future  ftate  ; 
and  how  much  happier  the  initiated   fliouid  be, 
and  what  fuperior  telicities  they  were  intitled  to, 
in  another  life,     it  was  on  this  account  that  anti- 
quity is  fo  full  and  exprefs  in  this  part.   But  then, 
they  were  to  make  thofe  they  haci  got  in  as  vir- 
tuous as  they  could  •,  v/hich  they  provided  for,  by 
difcovering,  to  fuch  as  were  capable  of  thefecret, 
the  whole  delufion  of  polytheifm.     Now  this  be- 
ing fuppofed  the  fhaking  foundations,  was  to  be 
done  with  all  poffible  circumfpedlion,  and  under 
the  moft  tremendous  feal  of  ittcitcy  ^.     For  they 
taught,   the  Gods  themfelves   punifhed   the   re- 
vealers  of  the  fecret  ^  and  not  them  only,  but  the 
hearers  of  it  too  "".     Nor  did  they  altogether  truft 
to  that  neither :  for,  more  effectually  to  curb  an 
ungovernable  curiofity,  the  ftate  decreed  capital 
punifhments  againft   the  betrayers  of  the   myjle- 


^  Bill.  Unhj    torn.  vi.  p.  86. 

'  See  cap.  ic.  of  Msurfius's  Elcufinia. 

^  —  Quaras  forfitan  fatis  anxie,  fludiofe  leflor,  quid  dein- 
de  ciiiun?,  quid  fa£lum?  Dicerem,  ii  dicere  liceret ;  cognof- 
cere%  fi  liceret  audire ;  fed  parem  noxani  contrahereiit  aures 
is  linguae  timtrmia  curiojitatis.    Apul.  Met,  lib.  xi. 


rm^ 


Secfl.  4.     ^  M  o  s  fe  s  demonjlrated.  181 

ries^  and  infli61:ed  them  with  mercilefs  feverity". 
The  cafe  of  Diagoras,  the  Mchan,  is  too  remark- 
able to  be  omitted.     This  man  had  revealed  the 
Orphic  and   Eleiifinian   myftcries  :  and  fo,  paiTed 
with  the  people  tor  an  atheiil ;  which  at  once  con- 
firms what  hath  been  faid  of  the  objetfV  of  the  fe- 
cret  docfrines^  and  of  the  mifchief  that  would  at- 
tend an  indifcreet  communication  of  them.     He 
likewife  diffuaded  his  friends  from  being  initiated 
into  thefe  rites  :  the  confequence  of  which  was, 
that  the  city  of  Athens  profcribcd  him,  and  fct  a 
price  upon  his  head  °.  While  Socrates,  who  preach- 
ed up  the  latter  part  of  this  dodrine  (and  was  like- 
wife  a  reputed  atheift),  and  Epicurus,  who  taught 
the  former  (and  was  a  real  one)  were  fullered,  be- 
caufe  they  delivered  their  opinions  only  as  points 
of  philofophic  fpeculation,  amongll:  their  followers, 
to  live  a  long  time  unmolefted.     And  this,  per- 
haps, was  the  reafon  why  Socrates  declined  being 
initiated  P.     Which,  as  it  appeared  a  fingular  af- 
feflation,  expofed  him  to  much  cenfure  '^.     But  it 
was  foreborn  with  his  ufual  prudence.   He  remem- 
bered, that  ^fchylus%  on  a  mere  imagination  of 
his  having  given  a  hint   in  his  fcenes   of  fome- 
thing  in  the  myfterics,  had  like  to  have  been  torn 
in  pieces  on  the   ftage  by  the  people  -,  and  only 
pfcaped   by   an  appeal  to  the  areopagus ;   which 

"  Si  quis  arcan;c  myueria  Cereris  facra  vulgaffet:,  lege  morti 
addicebatur.  'Vlv  Si.c^voi'ia.  to,  /xff-^pia  -rtSuz^ai.  Merainit  hujus 
legis  Sopater  ii}  Divifione  quasftionis.  Sam.  Petit  in  Ltgts 
jitticas,  p.  33. 

°  Suidas  voce  Aiayofx^  5  My^'Ki'^-  —  Si  etiam  Athenagoras  in 
Legationc. 

P  For  that  he  had  a  good  opiiion  of  the  myfteries,  appears 
from  the  Ph^do  of  Plato. 

Lucianus,   DenionaBe. 

'•  Llem.  Alex.  Strom,  ii.  &  Arift.  lib.  iii.  cap.    i.  iV/^w. 

N  3  venerable 


1 82  ^he  Divine  Legafio?z    Book  II. 

venerable  court  acquitted  him  of  that  dangerous 
imputation,  on  his  proving  that  he  had  never 
been  initiated.  The  famous  Euhemerus,  who 
alTumed  the  fame  office  of  hierophant  to  the  people 
at  large,  with  more  boldnefs  than  Socrates,  and 
more  temperance  than  Epicurus,  employed  an- 
other expedient  to  fcrcen  himfelf  from  the  lawSj 
though  he  fell,  and  perhaps  defervedly,  under  the 
fame  imputation  of  atheifm.  He  gave  a  fabulous 
relation  of  a  voyage  to  the  imaginary  ifland  of  Pan- 
chsea^,  a  kind  of  ancient  Utopia ;  where,  in  a 
temple  of  Jupiter,  he  found  a  genealogical  record, 
which  difcovered  to  him  the  births  and  deaths 
of  the  greater  Gods  ;  and,  in  fliort,  every  thing 
that  the  hierophant  revealed  to  the  initiated  on  this 
fubje6t.  Thus  he  too  avoided  the  fufpicion  of  a 
betrayer  of  the  myfteries.  A  charafter  infamous  in 
fecial  life.  And  to  this  the  Son  of  Sirac  alludes, 
where  he  fpeaks  of  this  fpecies  of  infidelity  in  gene- 
ral ^ — "  Whofo  difcovereth  secrets,  [fxv?^e/»] 
^'-  lofeth  his  credit,  and  fhall  never  find  friend  to 
"  his  mind."  This,  therefore,  is  the  reafon  why 
fo  little  is  to  be  jTiet  with,  concerning  the  AnoP- 
PHTA.  Varro  and  Cicero,  the  two  moil  inquifitive 
perfons  in  antiquity,  affording  but  a  glimmering 
light.  The  firfi  giving  us  a  fhort  account  of  the 
c^ufe  only  of  the  secret,  without  mentioning 
the  doof'rine  j  and  the  other,  a  hint  of  the  doBrine^ 
without  m»entioning  the  caiife. 

But  now  a  remarkable  exception  to  all  we  have 
been  faying,  concerning  \\\t  jecrecy  of  the  myjleries, 
obtrudes  itfclf  upon  us,  in  the  cafe  of  the  Cre- 
tans; who,  as  Diodorus  Siculus  affures  us,  cele- 
brated their  'myfteries  openly,  and  taught  their 

*"  Eufeb.   Pi-^p.  Ei-arig.  lib.ii.  cap.  2. 
rz('ji^  r  4'-X''''  ^-'^'•i'  Cap.  xxvii.  il  i6. 


Se6t.  4'       of  MosE  5  demo?2firafed.         183 

d7roff>]lx  without  referve.  His  words  are  thefe  : 
*'  At  CnofTus  in  Crete,  it  was  provided  for,  by  an 
"  ancient  law,  that  thefe  Myfteries  flioula  be 
"  fhewn  openly  to  all :  and  that  thofe  things,  which 
*'  in  other  places  were  delivered  in  fecret,  fliould 
*'  be  hid  Irom  none  who  were  defirous  of  know- 
"  ing  thcn-i\"  But,  as  contrary  as  this  feems  to 
the  principles  delivered  above,  it  will  be  found, 
on  attentive  refledion,  altogether  to  confirm  them. 
We  have  fhev/n,  xh^x.  xh&  ^reat  fecret  v/as  the  de- 
teftion  of  polytheifm  -,  which  was  done  by  teach- 
ing the  original  of  the  Gods  -,  their  birth  from 
mortals ;  and  their  advancement  to  divine  honour, 
for  benefits  done  to  their  country,  or  mankind. 
But  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  the  Cretans  pro- 
claimed this  to  all  the  world,  by  fhewing,  and 
boafting  of  the  tomb  of  Jupiter  himfelf,  the  Fa- 
ther of  Gods  and  Men.  How  then  could  they  tell 
that  as  a  fecret  in  their  myfleries,  which  they  told 
to  every  one  out  of  them  ?  Nor  is  it  lefs  remark- 
able that  the  Cretans  themfelves,  as  Diodorus,  in 
the  fame  place,  tells  us,  gave  this  very  circum- 
ilance  of  their  celebrating  the  myflcries  openly  as  a 
proof  of  their  being  the  firft  who  had  confecrated 
dead  mortals.  "  Thefe  are  the  old  ftories  which 
"  the  Cretans  tell  of  their  Gods,  who,  they  pre- 
^'-  tend  to  lay,  were  born  amongfl:  them.  And 
"  they  urge  this  as  an  invincible  reafon  to  prove 
"  that  the  adoration,  the  worfhip,and  the  myste- 
"  RiES  of  thefe  Gods  were  firft  derived  irom 
"  Crete  to  the  reft  of  the  world,  for,  where- 
"  as,  amongft  the  Athenians,  thofe  moft  illuftri- 
"  ous  myfteries  of  all,  called  \\\t  Eleufmian^  thofe 

avTo,  yivucrxen.  Biblioth.  lib.  V. 

N  4  «  ofv 


184  ^'^^^  Div'uie  Legation     Book  II. 

"  of  Samcthrace,  and  thofe  of  the  Ciconians  in 
"  Thrace,  of  Orpheus's  inftitution,  are  all  cele- 
"  brated  in  secret  :  yet  in  Crete  "^  "  —  and  fo 
on  as  above.  For  it  feems  the  Cretans  were  proud 
of  their  invention ;  and  ufed  this  method  to  pro- 
claim and  perpetuate  the  notice  of  it.  So  when 
Pythagoras,  as  Porphyry  "  informs  us,  had  been 
initiated  into  the  Cretan  myjleries^  and  had  conti- 
nued in  the  Idean  cave  three  times  nine  days,  he 
wrote  this  epigram  on  the  tomb  ot  Jupiter, 

Zan^  ii'hcm  men  call  Jupiter^  lies  here  deceafed. 

It  was  this  which  fo  much  exafperated  the  other 
Grecians  againft  them  \  and  gave  birth  to  the 
com.mon  proverb  of  KPHTES  AEI  ^'EYSTAI  ^ 
The  Cretans  are  eternal  liars.  For  nothing  could 
more  affront  thefe  fuperftitious  idolaters  than  af- 
fcrting  the  fa6t,  or  more  difpleafe  the  politic  pro- 
tedlorsof  the  myileries  than  the  divulging  it. 

The  MYSTERIES  then  being  of  fo  great  fer- 
vice  to  the  fliate,  we  fhall  not  be  furprized  to 
hear  the  v/ifcfl:  of  the  ancients  fpeaking  highly 
in  their  commendation;  and  their  beft  lawgivers, 
and  reformers,  proviiling  carefully   for  their  fup- 

C-'ii'a*  -rmavra  y.-v^-XoySa-t'  Tcci  S'c  Tij!x.a;  ic^  Syc-iaj  k^  toj;  'C%i  ra.  fxv- 
fii^\a.  Ts^ilu;  Ik  if-^Y,ry,g  tii;  rar  aA>ia?  ajOf«V«?  cs-'ts^t^t^oc&a*  'hiycv- 
Tt?,    TtfTO  Qi^t;a-:v,   u<;  oi'wj,   //.syir^''  ■riy-[^■'l^^O]l'    rrivrs    ya.^    •nrap'  'A- 

•na-av,   Kj    t    h   Taf/.o^^a-K'/i,    >d    t    tv  <?-'^a.vv)    iv  Tok  KiJfocriv    (iQ^ii  p 

*  De  --uita  P-jthag.  n.  xvii. 

K^r.nq  irixtriva.*lo.  Callim.  Hjmn.  in  Jo'vem. 

And  Nonnus  j 

Oj  yxf  dei  "arxfiiAiuvs  Ats?  ^EYAHMCNI  TYMBfij, 
Tipvouiii^  Kf/iTson:',  ETTi*  ■^^^£^0l/ ^VfgoTr^e;.    Dionxf.   lib.  viii. 

And  Lucan  ; 

Tam  mendax  Magni  tumulo,  quam  Creta  Tonantjs. 

lib.  viii. 

port. 


Sed.  4.     of  Moses  demofijlrafed.  1 85 

port.  "  Ceres  (fays  liberates)  hath  made  the 
"  Athenians  two  prefents  of  the  greateft  confe- 
"  quence  :  corn,  which  brought  us  out  of  a  ftate 
*'  of  brutahty  •,  and  the  mysteries,  which  teach 
"  the  initiated  to  entertain  the  moft  agreeable  ex- 
"  peilations  touching  death  and  eternity  ^."  And 
Plarointroduceth  Socrates  fpeaking  after  this  man- 
ner :  "  In  my  opinion,  thofe  who  eftabHllied  the 
"  myfteries,  whoever  they  were,  were  well  fkili- 
*'  ed  in  human  nature.  For  in  thefe  rites  it  was 
"  of  old  fignihed  to  the  afpirants,  that  thofe  who 
"  died  without  being  initiated,  ftuck  fall  in  mire 
"  and  filth :  but  that  he  who  was  purified  and  in- 
"  itiated  at  his  death  fiiould  have  his  habitation 
*'  with  the  Gods^"  And  Tully  thought  them 
of  fuch  ufe  to  fociety,  for  preferving  and  propa- 
gating the  dodrine  of  a  future  ilate  of  rewards  and 
punilhments,  that  in  the  law  where  he  forbids  no- 
jfturnai  facrifices  offered  by  women,  he  makes  an 
exprefs  exception  for  the  Myfteries  of  Ceres,  as 
well  as  for  the  facrifices  to  the  good  Goddefs. 
'•'  Nodurna  mulierum  facrificia  ne  funto,  propter 
"  olla,  qurE  pro  populo  rite  fiant.  Neve  quem 
"  initianto,  nifi,  ut  affolet,  Cereri,  GrjECO  facro." 
Which  law  he  thus  comments  :  —  "  M.  But  now, 
"  Titus,  as  to  what  follows,  I  would  fain  know 
"  how  you  can  give  your  afTent,  or  I  blame  you 
"  for  with-holding  it  ?  /L  What  is  that,  I  pray 
"  you  .f*  M.  The  law  concerning  the  nc6lurnal 
"  facrifices  of  women.     A.  I  aflent  to  it,  efpe- 

'"'   AyiiA,yii^^  —  duavi';  ouqux,:  dirJa?,  aiTrsp  Mt'-yifat    Tvix^mcriv  a- 
erai'  TM?  TB  xa^Tra;   o\  rS  (///)  ^ri^iuouq  ^>;v  r.fji'clq  cclnoi  y£yotcx.ai'   kJ 

"   Kail  xtvaYvdOao-J  k^  ot  t«V  T:-AiV?  VIM'  «T&(  x.x\»<ryi7a.v\i<;,   H  (pxv 

xj  Tiiihic^b^,   UHos  KfiXifAst"^,   f/^  ^iHi  vUiKt^^.   In  Ph.sdone. 

*"  cially 


l86  ^he  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

"  cially  as  there  is  an  exprefs  exception  to  the 
*'  public  and  folemn  facrifice.  M.  What  then  will 
**  become  of  our  Ekufinian  rites,  thofe  reverend 
"  and  auguft  myfteries  •,  if,  indeed,  we  take  away 
*'  no6hirnai  celebrations?  For  our  laws  are  calcu- 
*'  lated.^  7iot  only  for  the  Roman,  but  for  alljuif  and 
"  well  eSfablifhed  policies.  A.  I  think  you  except 
*'  thofe,  into  which  we  ourfelves  have  been  in- 
"  itiated.  M.  Doubtlefs  I  do  :  for  as,  in  my  opi- 
"  nion,  your  Athens  hath  produced  many  excel- 
*'  lent  and  even  divine  inventions,  and  applied 
*'  them  to  the  ufe  of  life ;  fo  has  fhe  given  nothing 
"  better  than  thofe  myfteries,  by  which  we  are 
'*  drawn  from  an  irrational  and  favage  life,  and 
**  tamed,  as  it  were,  and  broken  to  humanity. 
"  They  are  truly  called  initia,  for  they  are  in- 
'^  deed  the  beginnings  of  a  life  of  reafon  and  vir- 
*'  tue.  From  whence  we  not  only  receive  the  be- 
'*  nefits  of  a  more  comfortable  and  elegant  fub- 
*'  fiftence  here,  but  are  taught  to  hop  for,  and 
**  and  afpirc  to  a  better  life  hereafter.  But  what 
**  it  is  that  difpleafes  me  in  nofturnal  rites,  the  co- 
**  mic  poets  will  fhew  you''.  Which  liberty  of 
*'  celebration,  had  it  been  permitted  at  Rome, 

''  The  common  reading,  in  which  all  the  mfs.  agree,  is, 
^'id mihi  difpliceat,  INNOCENTES  poet^e  indicant  comici.  Vi- 
ctorias conjedtured,  that,  inftead  of  innocentes,  Tully  wrote 
IN  NOCTURNiE,  which  appears  to  be  right.  '^yx^CiQ  pet  a  comi- 
ci^ I  fuppofe  Cicero  meant  the  writers  of  the  neixi  comedy.  The 
abufes  he  hints  at,  as  perpetrated  in  the  myfteries,  were  of  a 
libidinous  kind :  which  occafioned  an  intrigue  proper  for  the 
veiu  comedy.  And  we  may  fee  by  Fabricius's  Notitia  comico- 
rum  deperditorum,  Bibl.Greec.  lib.  ii.  cap,  22.  how  frequent- 
ly the  writers  of  the  ne^jj  comedy  laid  the  fcene  of  their  plots 
in  a  religious  feftival  or  mvjiery.  Plautus,  who  copied  from 
them,  in  his  prologue  iothsAulularia,  opens  the  fubjedt  of  it 
in  thefe  words, 

-    ■       -■  Senex 
Is  adolefcentis  illius  eft  avunculus, 
Qui  earn  ftupravit  no£tu  Cereris  vigiliis. 

"  what 


Sed.  4.     0^  M  o  s  E  s  demonjirated,  187 

*«  what  wickednefs  would  not  hehaveattempted% 

*'  who  came  with  a  premeditated  piirpofe  of  in- 

*«  diilging  his  lufl,  to  a  facrifice  where  even  the  mif- 

''  behaviour''  of  the  eye  was  deeply  criminal "  ?  " 

*^  By  ille,  is  here  meant  P.  Clodius,  the  mortal  enemy  of 
Cicero.  So  that  his  reafoning  feems  to  ftand  thus  —  "I  allow 
*'  an  exception  for  the  Eleufmian  myileries,  on  account  of 
"  their  great  ufe  to  civil  life.  But  yet  their  celebration  in  the 
"  night  is  attended  with  flrange  inconveniencies,  as  appears 
"  from  the  comic  poets.  And  had  this  liberty  of  celebrating 
*'  nofturnal  rites  by  men  and  women  promifcuouidy,  as  in  the 
"  Eleufmian  myileries,  been  praftifed  in  Rome,  what  enor- 
*'  mities  muft  we  believe  fuch  a  one  as  Clodius  would  have 
"  committed,  who  contrived  to  violate  the  nofturnal  rites  of 
^'  the  Good  Goddefs,  to  which  only  women  were  admitted  ?'* 
For  that  the  Grecian  tnyjleries  were  thus  promifcuoufly  cele- 
brated, appears  from  what  Dionyfms  Hal.  obferves  of  the  pu- 
rity of  the  early  Roman  worfhip ;  where  no  noflurnal  vigil 
(fays  he)  was  kept  promifcuoufly  by  men  and  women,  in  the 
celebration  of  their  myjieries.  —  a  ;^7ravn);)(;i«o-;Aa,-  h  11^0%!;  S=w, 
ato^uv  avii  yvvcit^iv  — 

^ ''  The  ancients  efteemed  thnf  to  be  the  greatell  mi/beha- 
viour of  the  eye,  where  the  fight  of  w?^;/  obtruded,  though 
only  by  accident,  upon  thofe  z«v/?i'>7V/,  which  it  was  only  law- 
ful for  ^Momen  to  behold. 

^  M.  At  vero,  quod  fequitur,  quomodo  aut  tu  aflTentiare, 
aut  ego  reprehendam,  fane  quaero,  Tite.  J.  Quid  tandem  id 
eft  ?  M.  De  noi^urnis  facriliciis  mulierum.  A  Ego  vero  af- 
fentior,  excepto  przefertim  in  ipfa  lege  folemni  facrificio"  ac 
publico.  M.  Quid  ergo  aget  lacchus  Eumolpid^que  noftri,  & 
augufta  ilia  myfteria,  fiquidem  facra  noflurna  tollimus  ?  non 
enim  populo  Romano,  fed  on^nibus  bonis  firmisque  populis  le- 
ges damus.  J.  Excipis,  credo,  ilia,  quihusipfi  initiati  fumus. 
M.  Ego  vero  excipiam.  Nam  mihi  cum  multa  eximia  divina- 
naque  videntur  Athenas  tu;E  peperifTe,  atque  in  vita  hominum 
attulifle,  tum  nihil  melius  illis  myfteriis,  quibus  ex  agrefti  im- 
manique  vita  exculti  ad  humanitatem,  &  mitigati  funws;  in- 
itiaque,  ut  appellantur,  ita  revera  principia  vita;  cognovimus  ; 
neque  folum  cum  lastitia  vivendi  rationem  accepimus,  fed  etiam 
cum  fpe  meliore  moriendi.  Quid  autem  mihi  difpliceat  in 
NOCTuRMs,  Poetae  indicant  Comici.  Qua  licentia  Rome  da- 
ta, quidnam  egiifet  ille,  qui  in  facrificium  cogitatam  libidi- 
nem  intulit,  quo  ne  imprudemiani  quidem  oculorum  adjici  fas 
fuit?  De  Legg.  lib.  ii.  cap.  14. 

Wc 


2  88  fhe  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

We  have  feen,  that  the  other  exception  to  this 
law  againft  nodlurnal  facrifices,  was  in  favour  of 
the  rites  performed  to  the  good  Goddefs,  called  the 
public  and  folemn  facrifice.  This  was  offered  pro 
populo^  for  the  fafety  of  the  people.  So  that  Ci- 
cero, ranking  the  'Ekufmian  v/ith  thcfe  rites,  ap- 
pears to  have  thought  them  in  the  number  of  fuch 
as  were  celebrated  for  the  public  fafety.  Solon, 
the  famous  lawgiver  of  Athens,  long  before  him, 
had  the  fame  high  opinion  of  thefe  wyjteries^  as  is 
ieen  by  the  care  be  took  of  their  regulation  -,  and  fo 
had  Pr^texatus,  a  moft  accomplifned  roman  ma- 
gifbrate,  long  after  him :  for  when  his  mailer,  Va- 
lentinian,  had  divided  the  empire  with  his  brother, 
and  projefted  a  general  reform  of  the  laws,  and, 
amongfl  the  reft,  had  forbid  noofurnal  facrifices ; 
he  was  perfuaded  by  Pr^etextatus,  who  governed 
for  him  in  Greece,  to  make  an  exception  for  the 
myfteries  of  Ceres  \  which  had  been  brought  to  Rome 
very  early  ^,  and  incorporated  into  the  national 
worfhips,  and  regulated  anew  by  the  wile  emperor 
Hadrian ''. 

Zofimus  tells  the  fbory  in  this  manner  ;  *'  The 
*'  fupreme  power  being  thus  divided,  Valentinian 
*'  entered  on  his  new  command  with  a  more  ferious 
"  attention  to  his  ofBce,  He  reformed  the  magi- 
*'  ftracy,  he  regulated  the  revenue,  and,  by  a  ri- 
"  gid  exadlion  of  the  duties,  lecured  the  pay  of 
"  the  foldiery,  which  arofe  out  of  that  fund :  and 
"  having  determined  likewife  to  new  model  and 

f  As  appears  by  Tally's  Oration  for  Corn.  Balbus,  and  by  a 
paflage  in  his  fecond  book,  cap.  24.  Of  the  nature  of  thcGodsy 
quoted  above;  and  likewife  from  Dionyf  Hal.  lib.  i.  cap.  33. 

6  Suetonius,  Vita  Aug.  cap.  93. 
^  Aurel.  Viitor,  in  Hadr, 

"  promulge 


Sed.  4,    of  M  OS  2  s  demonJlraUd,  189 

"  promnlge  the  imperial  inftitutes,  beginnings  as 
"  they  fay,  from  the  foundation,  he  forbad  the  ce- 
"  lebration  of  all  no^urnal  rites  and  facrifices-,  with 
"'  defign  to  obviate  the  enormities  which  the  op- 
"  portLinity  of  thefe  feafons  gave  birth  to,  and  en- 
*'  flamed.  But  when  Pr^textatus,  a  man  adorn- 
"  ed  with  every  virtue  of  public  aud  private  life, 
*'  who  then  governed  Greece  in  quality  of  procon- 
"  ful,  had  given  him  to  underftand  that  this  law 
"  would  occafion  great  diforders  in  Greece,  and 
"  even  throw  the  inhabitants  into  defpair,  when 
"  they  fhould  find  that  they  were  forbidden  to  ce- 
"  lebrate,  according  to  ancient  cuftom,  thofe  moft 
*'  holy  myjieries,  which  had  now  taken  in  the  whole 
"  race  of  mankind,  he  gave  per  million  to  a  fuf- 
"  penfion  of  his  law,  with  regard  to  thefe ;  on 
"  condition,  however,  that  every  thing  fhould  be 
*'  reduced  to  the  primitive  purity  and  fimplicity  *.'* 
Thus  the  Eleufininn  myfteries  got  a  reprieve,  till 
the  reign  of  Theodofius  the  elder,  when  they  were 
totally  abolifhed.  The  terms  Prastextatus  ufed  to 
ihew  the  ill  confequence  of  the  fupprefTion,  are  very 
remarkable :  he  faid,  the  Greeks  would,  from 
thenceforth,  lead  ABIflTON  BION,  a  comfortlefs 
lifelefs  life.  But  this  could  not  be  faid,  with  any 
truth,  or  propriety,  of  the  taking  away  a  mere  re- 
ligious rite,  how  venerable  foever  it  was  become 

''■V  "£XV  '^^oa-iTi.Quv,  af^ovla;  te  h  xoa-^u  'm^o^'^ju,  k^  'Z^  Ta?  iic- 
W^afeiS  Tvy  £t(7(po^&'»,  iCj  ru<i  Ik  riiray  x^fyiltiiA.hc(,;  rfci]tulixcci  erUri' 

^i^v,  ci-np  iv  'SJo.a-cnq  Qja.-rr^sTiruv  Tex,7<;  oi^(laT<;,  thtov  sCp})  t- vo(a.o>  ABI- 
121 OM   roTi  '  EWnc-t  xalxrria-eiv  t-  BlOM,   a   i^eWony  y,u>iV n^at  rd 

tsAifia.  Lib.  iv.  HijL  No-var. 

by 


190  ^he  Divine  Legation    Book  It, 

by  its  antiquity.  To  apprehend  the  force  of  the 
cxpreiTion,  we  muft  have  in  mind  what  has  been 
faid  of  the  dodlrines  taught  in  thofe  rites,  namely, 
a  providence^  and  a  future  fiate  of  rewards  and 
funifhmentSy  on  whofe  foie  account  the  rites  were 
inftituted.  Now  thefe  doftrines  being  in  them- 
ielves  of  the  mofl:  engaging  nature,  taught  here 
in  the  moil  interefting  manner,  and  receiving  from 
hence  their  chief  fupport,  it  was  no  wonder  that 
the  Greeks  fhould  efleem  the  aboHtion  of  the  my- 
fteries  as  the  greateft  evil :  the  life  of  man  beingji 
indeed,  without  the  comfort  and  fupport  of  thefe 
dodjines,  no  better  than  a  living  death :  hence  ic 
was,  that  the  fage  Ifocrates  called  the  myfleriesj 
the  thing  human  nature  principally  Jiands  in  need  of^. 
And  that  Ariftides  faid,  the  welfare  of  Greece  was 
fecured  by  the  Eleujinian  myjleries  alone  K  Indeed  the 
Greeks  feemed  to  place  their  chief  happinefs  in 
them :  fo  Euripides  makes  Hercules  fay  ™,  /  was 
hlefl,  when  I  got  a  fight  of  the  r>iyfi  erics :  and  it  was 
a  proverbial  fpeech,  when  any  one  thought  him- 
lelf  in  the  higheft  degree  happy,  to  fay,  I  feem  as 
if  I  had  been  initiated  in  the  higher  my  Series ". 

I.  But  now,  fuch  is  the  fate  of  human  things, 
Thefe  myfteries,  venerable  as  they  were,  in  their 
iirft  inftitution,  did,  it  muft  be  owned,  in  courfe 
of  time  degenerate ;  and  thofe  very  proviuons  made 
by  the  ftate,  to  enable  the  myfteries  to  obtain  the 
end  of  their  eftablifliment,  became  the  very  means 
of  defeatino;  it.  For  we  can  aflie;n  no  fiirer  caufe  of 
the  horrid  abufes  and  corruptions  of  the  myfteries 
(befides  time,  which  naturally  and  fatally  depraves 
and  vitiates  all  things)  than  the  season  in  which 

^  Ox)  tir^wTov  ri  (pvG'i^  viauv  khyi^v).  Patiegyr. 

'  ffcjvoi?  'E^;^»^^ot?  vylxinv  »}  'E^Xat  j.    Elcuf. 

^  T«  it.vrm  y  o^fi'  dO'TJx»fir'  l^uv.    Hen.  furtnSy  j^  61 3. 

■  'ETT'Trl^Ji*  pel  Joxw. 

they 


Se£t.  4,    of  Moses  demonjirated,  191 

they  were  reprefented  ;  and  the  profound  silence 
in  which  they  were  buried.  For  night  gave 
opportunity  to  wicked  men  to  attempt  evil  adlions ; 
and  fecrecy^  encouragement  to  repeat  them  ;  and 
the  inviolable  nature  of  that  fecrecy,  which  en- 
couraged abufes,  kept  them  from  the  magiftrate's 
knowledge  fo  long,  till  it  was  too  late  to  reform 
them.  In  a  word,  we  muft  own,  that  thefe  my- 
fteries,  fo  powerful  in  their  firft  inftitution  for  the 
promotion  of  'virtue  and  knowIedge°,  became,  in 
time,  horribly  fubfervient  to  the  gratification  of 
/uff  and  revenge^.  Nor  will  this  appear  at  all  ftrange 
after  what  hath  been  faid  above.  A  like  corruption, 
from  the  fame  caufe,  crept  even  into  the  church, 
during  the  pureft  ages  of  it.  The  primitive  chri- 
ftians,  in  imitation,  perhaps,  of  thefe  pagan  rites, 
or  from  the  fame  kind  of  fpirit,  had  a  cuflom  of 
celebrating  vigils  in  the  night  -,  which,  at  firft, 
were  performed  with  all  becoming  fanftity :  but, 
in  a  little  time,  they  were  fo  over-run  with  ab- 
ufes, that  it  was  neceflary  to  abolifh  them.  The 
account  Bellarmine  gives  of  the  matter,  is  this : 
'*  Quoniam  occafione  nodlurnarum  vigiliarum  ab- 
"  ufus  quidam  irrepere  coeperant,  vel  potius  fla- 
"  gitia  non  raro  committi,  placuit  ecclefise  no- 
"  dturnos  conventus  &  vigilias  proprie  didlas  in- 
"  termittere,  ac  folum  in  iifdem  diebus  celebrarc 
"  jejunia'^.'*  And  the  fame  remedy,  Cicero'  tells 

°  —  Ta  [Mvrr^icc  —  crt  vni  'craihia  >^  i7rxvof9uff<}  tS  ^»s  xa1ir«- 
fiij  Trxvla,  rcti/Tu.  v-tto  r2v  'siuT^aiuv. 

P  'H  yd^  T6xvo?>'::s?  TEAETAI,  %  KPT«1»IA  MYSTHPIA,  ^  \(jl- 

^s?  m  (pvXxc^ac-iv,  stej;©-  ^' iTSfov  ^  AOK^N  ANAlPEI,  ij  NO- 
©EYON  OATNA.    JVi/^om  of  Sol.   xiv.   23,  24. 

^  Dc  Eccl.  Triumph,  lib.  iii.    cap.  ult, 

'■  —  Atque  omnia  noiElurna,  ne  nos  duriores  forte  videamur, 
in  media  Grc^cia  Diagondas  Thebanus  lege  perpetua  fuftulit. 
De  Legg.  lib-  ii.  cap.  15. 


192  T^he  Divine  Legaticn     Booi:  IL 

us,  Diagondas  the  Theban  was  forced  to  apply  to 
the  diforders  of  the  myfteries. 

2.  However,  this  was  not  the  only,  though  the 
moft  powerful  caufe  of  the  depravation  of  the  my- 
fteries. Another  doubtlefs  was  their  being  fomc- 
times  under  the  patronage  of  thole  deities,  who 
were  fuppofed  to  infpire  and  prefide  over  fenfual 
pafTions,  liich  as  Bacchus,  Venus,  and  Cupid  j  for, 
thefe  had  all  their  Mysteries :  and  where  was  the 
wonder,  if  the  initiated  fhould  be  fometimes  in- 
clined to  give  a  loofe  to  thofe  vices,  in  which  the 
patron  God  was  fuppofed  to  delight  ?  And  in  this 
cafe,  the  hidden  do6trine  came  too  late  to  put  a 
ftop  to  the  diforder.  However,  it  is  remarkable, 
and  confirms  what  hath  been  laid  concerning  the 
origin  of  the  Myfteries,  and  of  their  being  invenu- 
ed  to  perpetuate  the  dodlrine  of  a  future  ftate, 
that  the  do6lrine  continued  to  be  taught  even  in 
the  moft  debauched  celebrations  of  the  Myfteries 
of  Cupid  *  and  Bacchus  \  Nay,  even  that  very 
flagitious  part  of  the  myfterious  rites  when  at  worft, 
the  carrying  the  KTEI2  and  ^AAAOS  in  p'ocejp.on^ 
was  introduced  but  under  pretence  of  their  being 
emblems  ''  of  the  myftical  regeneration  and    new 

COM  loTc  EPI2TOS  ofUxTCiuq  >C  ^jLViCiii;  h   clcd  ,3:At14.'i«  (/M.^at  hctav, 
Plutarch  us  'E^ultxu. 

'  KiXa®^  —  o'Ulcci  yi  etti  Sa'^itc^  'uv  ijici-liJv  Tav&' rf-a?  ■raoiEil/, 

oTTff  'J:ofji.ci7ci  r,u.(xi;  T'Si  Et  ra7i  BA^X'iK/WE  7i>.f;ci7:  roi  (pcx.s'y.a.la.  -^ 
^lifABtlx  -zTfoeiS-ayyc-t.    OHg  centra  Cclfum,  lib   iv.  p.  i67.Sp, 

"  K-a»  yx^  ci'i  TiXiiai,  y^  rd  o^.'ias,  rd  rijruv  e.'^sv  AINU  MA'l  A. 
T-  xlhx  jjii'j  «  'E\ivalc,  7j  <px'h'S-j.]'u:y'ioi,  ca  tov  (paWov.  Thcodoret. 
Thcrapcut.  lib  i.  Here  the  father  ufes  the  word  uhiF!/.A^.  ironi- 
cally, and  in  derifion  of  the  pagans,  who  pretended,  that  thefe 
procefTions  were  myftical,  fymbolical,  and  enigmatical ;  other- 
wife  he  had  ufed  the  word  improperly  ;  for  the  xlilc  and  (DaX- 
7^c  could  never  be  the  aMj^alo.  of  the  pollutions  committed  by 
them:  ».t>Ka%  iignifying  the  obfcure  imitation  of  a  thing  re- 

life. 


Sed.  4.     of  Moses  demonjirafed.  193 

life,  into  which  the  Initiated  had  engaged  them- 
felves  to  enter. 

3.  The  laft  caufe  to  which  one  may  afcribe  their 
corruption,  was  the  Hierophant's  withdrawing  the 
Myfteries  from  the  care  and  infpedion  of  the  civil 
Magiftrate  ;  whofe  original  inftitution  they  were  : 
and,  therefore,  in  the  purer  ages  of  Greece,  the  de- 
puties of  the  States  prefided  in  them  :  and,  fo  long, 
they  were  fafe  from  notorious  abufes.  But  in  after- 
times  it  would  happen,  that  a  little  prieft,  who  had 
borne  an  inferior  fhare  in  thefe  rites,  would  leave 
his  fociety  and  country,  and   fet  up  for  himfelf ; 
and  in  a  clandeftine  manner,  without  the  allowance' 
or  knowledge  of  the  magiftrate,  inftitute  and  ce- 
lebrate the  Myfteries  in  private  conventicles.  From 
rites  fo  managed,  it  is  eafy  to  believe,  many  enor- 
mities would  arife.    This  was  the  original  of  thofe 
horrid  impieties  committed  in  the  Myfteries  of  Bac- 
chus  at   Rome  •,  of  which  the  hiftorian  Livy  has 
given  fo  circumftantial  an  account :  for,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  his  ftory,  he  tells  us,  the  mifchief  was 
occafioned  by  one    of  thefe    prieft's  bringing  the 
Myfteries  intoEtruria,  on  his  own  head,  uncom- 
miflioned  by  his  fuperiors  in  Greece,  from  whom 
he  learnt  them  ;  and  unauthorized  by  the  State,  in- 
to which  he  had  introduced  them.    The  words  of 
Livy  fliew  that  the  Myfteries  were,  in  their  own  na- 

prefented  by  a  (different  image. —  So  Tertuliian  againll  the  Va- 
lentiniansfays,  "  Virile  membrum  toturn  effe  mysteriUM." 
Jamblichus  gives  another  reafon  for  theie  things :  %y.  -rSro  tv 

at/Twy  cTt^M.r.9r "VV>,,- /?Xa'g„.-.  Dl' myfieriis,  §  i.  cap.  i  I.  How- 
ever, in  common  life,  fgurtim  pidcndi  ijirilis  ad  fafcini  omm 
genus  expuammdum  miiltvm  njalere  credirnit.  A  fuperftition, 
which,  without  doubt,  arofe  from  its  enlginatk  ftation  in  the 
myfterici. 


Vol.  I.  O 


turc 


194  ^^^  Divhte  Legation     Book  II. 

ture,  a  very  different  affair  •,  and  invented  for  the 
improvement  of  knowledge  and  virtue.  "  A  Greek 
"  of  mean  extraftion  (fays  he '^)  a  httle  prieft  and 
"  foothlayer,  came  firft  into  Etruria,  without 

"  ANY     SKILL     OR      WISDOM      IN      MYSTERIOUS 

**  RITES,    M^^^V  SORTS   OF    WHICH,    THAT   MOST 

*'  IMPROVED      PEOPLE      HAVE      BROUGHT      IN     A- 

*'  MONGST     US,      FOR    THE     CULTURE    AND     PER- 

*'  FECTION    BOTH    OF    MIND    AND    BODY''.        It  is 

farther  obfervable,  that  this  priefl  brought  the  My- 
lleries  pure  with  him  out  ot  Greece,  and  that  they 
received  their  corruption  in  Italy  •,  for,  as  Hifpala 
tells  the  ftory  to  the  conful,  at  firfl,  women  only 
celebrated  the  rites ;  till  Paculla  Minia  Campana 
became  prieftefs  •,  who,  on  a  fudden,  as  by  order 
of  the  Gods,  made  a  total  alteration  in  the  cere- 
monies, and  initiated  her  sons  ;  which  gave  oc- 
cafion  to  all  the  debaucheries  that  followed  ^.     The 

^' Graecus  ignobilis  in  Etruriam  primumvenit,   nulla  cum 

ARTE  EARUM,  Q^  A S  MULTAS  AD  ANIMORUM  CORPO- 
R  U  M  Q_L'  E     CULTUM     NOBIS     ERUDIIISSIMA    OMNIUM    GENS 

iN,VEXiT,  fed  facrificulus  &  vates.   HiJI.  lib.  xxxix. 

*  What  Livy  means  by  the  culture  of  the  body,  will  be  feen 
hereafter,  when  we  come  to  fpeak  of  the  probationary  and 
toilfome  trials  undergone  by  tho!e  afpirants  to  the  mylieries, 
called  the  soldiers  of  Mithras. 

y  Hifpala's  confelTion  will  fully  inftrudl  the  reader  in  the  na- 
ture and  degree  of  thefe  corruptions.  —  "  Turn  Hifpala  ori- 
"  ginem  facrorum  expromit.  Primo  facrarium  id  fceminarum 
"  tuifle,  nccquemquam  virum  eo  admitti  folitum  — Pacullam 
*'  facerdotem  omnia,  tanquam  Deiim  monitis,  immutalle  :  nam 
*'  &  viros  earn  primam  fuos  filios  initiafie  ;  &  nofturnum  fa- 
"  crum  ex  diurno,  tl'  pro  tribus  in  anno  diebus  quinos  fmgulis 
*'  menfibus  dies  initiorum  fecifie.  Ex  quo  in  promifcuo  lacra 
"  fmt,  &  pcrmifti  viri  fceminis,  8c  noftis  licentiaaccefferit ;  ni- 
"  hil  ibi  iacinoris,  nihil  llagitii  prsEtermiffum ;  plura  virorum 
"  iiiter  fefe,  quam  fceminarum  effe  liupra.  Si  qui  minus  rati- 
*'  entes  dcdecoris  fint,  &  pigricres  ad  facinus,  pro  viftimis  im- 
*'  r.iolari  :  nihil  nefas  ducere.  Hanc  iummam  inter  eos  reli- 
"  gioncm  efie;  viros  veluc  mente  capta  cum  jadtatione  fana- 
"  iica  corporis  vuticinari — Kaptos  a  Diis  homines  dici,  quos 

confequence 


Secft.  4-    of  Moses  demonjirated,  195 

confequence  of  this  difcovery  was  the  abolition  of 
the  rites  of  Bacchus  throughout  Italy,  by  a  decree 
of  the  fenate. 

However,  it  is  very  true,  that  in  Greece  itfelf 
tlie  Myfteries  became  abominably  abufed  ^ :  a  proof 
of  which  we  have  even  in  the  condudl  of  their  co- 
mic writers,  who  frequently  lay  the  fcene  of  their 
fubje6t,  fuch  as  the  rape  of  a  young  girl,  and  the 
like,  at  the  celebration  ot  a  religious  myftery  •,  and 
from  that  myfiery  denominate  the  comedy  ".  And 
in  the  time  of  Cicero,  the  terms,  my  Series  and  abo- 
minations were  almoft  fynonymous.  The  Academic 
having  faid  they  had  fecrets  and  myfteries^  Lucul- 
lus  replies,  "  Qure  funt  tandem  ifta  mysteria  ? 
"  aut  cur  celacis,  quafi  turpe  aliquid,  veftram 
"  fententiam  ^  ?  "  HovN^ever,  in  fpite  of  all  occa- 
fions  and  opportunities,  feme  of  the  Myfteries,  as 
particularly  the  Eleusinian,  continued,  for  ma- 
ny ages,  pure  and  undefiicd.  The  two  capital  cor- 
ruptions ot  themyftcries  were  MAGIC  and  IMPURI- 
TIES. Yet,  fo  late  as  the  age  of  Apollonius  Tyan  : 
the  Eleufinian  kept  fo  clear  of  the  firll  imputation, 
that  the  hierophant  reiufed  to  initiate  that  impo- 
ftor,  becaufe  he  was  a  magician  ".  And,  indeed, 
their  long-continued  imnuinity,  both  from  one 
and  the  other  corruption,  will  not  appear  extra- 

"  machins  illigatos  ex'  confpe£lu  in  abdito;  fpecus  abriplant ; 
*'  eos  efTc,  qui  aut  coiijurare,  aut  iociari  facinoribus,  aut  fta- 
"  prum  pati  noluerint  MultitudiDem  ingentem,  alterum  jam 
"  prope  populum  effe  :  in  his  r.obilcs  quofdam  viios,  foeniinas- 
"  que.  Biennio  proximo  inlliLUtuai  cfie,  ne  quis  major  viginti 
"  annis  initiaretur  ;   captari  statis  &  erroris&ftupri  paticntes." 

^   See  Clemens  Alexandrinus,    in  his  Admomtia  ad  Gcntcs. 

^  See  Fabricius's  Nofiiia  comicorurn  deperditot  urn,  in  his  £rll: 
vol.  of  the  Bibl.  Givcc.  lib.  ii.  cap.  22. 

'•  Acad,  quaifi.   lib.  i. 

*^  'O  ^E     It^o^pdvlr,;  ny.  e^sXsIo  'rsai:iy(pv  tx  i;fa,    /xjj  yl^   civ   cr.7s 

i»tl*6ncc,     Philojl.  lib,  iv.  cap.  18. 

O  2  ordinary 


196  'The  Divme  Legation     Book  II. 

ordinary,  if  we  confider,  that,  by  a  law  of  Solon, 
the  fenate  was  always  to  meet  the  day  after  the  ce- 
lebration of  thefe  myfteries,  to  fee  that  nothing  had 
been  done  amifs  during  the  performance'*.  So  that 
thefe  were  the  very  laft  that  fubmitted  to  the  com- 
mon fate  of  all  human  inftitutions  *. 

y)   ya,^  (oaXvj  IxsT  K<x.^ioC>aiot,i    £f/(.£^^E,   )(p    Ton    "ZoXut^  v6i/.cv,   of 

Andoc.  Orat. 

*^  This  fhort  hiflorical  dediidion  cf  the  rife  and  fall  of  the 
fnyj?ei'ics  will  afford  much  light  to  the  following   paffage  of 
St.  Paul,  fpeaking  of  the  leaders  and  infiruaors  of  the  gentile 
world,  —  '■  So  that  they  are  without  excufe :    becaufe  that 
"  nxhcn  they  kneiv  God,  tbty  glorified  him  not  as   God,  neither 
*'   were  thankful  ;  but  became  njain  in  tht'ir  imaginations,    and 
"  their  fooliih  heart  ,was  darkened.     Profcfiing  themfelves  to 
"  be  wife,  they  became  fools :  and  changed  the  glory  of  the 
"  uncorruptible  God  into  anto  an  image  made  like  to  corruptible 
"  man,   and  to  birds  and  four-foctcd  beafis,  and  creeping  things. 
"  Wherefore  God  gave  them  up  to  ur.clea7incfs,  through  the 
**  luits  of  their  own  hearts,   to  diilionour  their  own  bodies  be- 
"  tween  themfelves.     Who  changed  the  truth  of  God  into  a 
*'  lit,  and  worfhiped   and  fern;ed  the  creature  more  than  the 
"  creator,  who  is  blefied  for  ever,  amen.     For  this  caufe  God 
**  gave  them  up  unto  njile  affeSlicns,''''  t5c.    Rom.  i    20,  is  feq. 
In  thefe  words,  the  holy  apolUe  evidently  condemns  the  fooiiih 
policy  of  the  gentile  fages,  who,  'when  they  knenv  God  (that  is, 
difcovered  God,  as  Paul  intimates,  by  the  light  of  nature)  yet 
glorified  him  not  as  God,  by  preaching  him  up  to  the  people ; 
but,  carried  away,  in  the  'vanity  of  their  imagination,  by  a 
millaken  principle  of  politics,  that  a  vulgar  knowledge  of  him 
would  be  injurious  to  fociety,  fhut  up  his  glory  in  their  my- 
steries, aiid  gave  the  people,  in  exchange  for  an  uncorrupt- 
i'^h  God,  an  ima<^e  made  like  to  corruptible  man  and  birds,    i^c. 
Wherefore  God,  in  punifliment  for  their  thus  turning  his  truth 
into  a  lie,  fuffered  even  their  myfteries,  which  tliey  erefted 
(though  on  thefe  wrong  principles)   for  ^  fchool  of  virtue,  to 
degenerate    into  an  odious    fink    of   vice    and    immorality; 
ginjing  thti7i.up  unto  all  uncleannefs  and  iiilc   ajfe&ions.      That 
this  was   the  apoille's  meaning,  appears  not  only  from  the 
general  tenor  of  the  palfage,   but  from  feveral  particular  ex- 
prelllons  ;   as  where  he  fpeaks  of  c'janging  the  gici-\  of  God  to 
>.i'ds,  beafis f  and  creeping  things:   for  this  was  the  peculiar. 

It 


Sed.  4.     of  Moses  defnonftrated.  1 97 

It  is  true,  if  uncertain  report  was  to  be  believ- 
ed, the  myfteries  were  corrupted  very  early  :  for 
Orplieus  himfelf  is  faid  to  have  abufed  their/.  But 
this  was  an  art  the  debauched  Myfi^  of  later  times 
employed  to  varnifh  their  enormines  ;  as  the  de- 
teftable  P^ederafts  of  after-ages  fcandalized  the 
bJamekfs  Socrates.  Befides,  the  ftory  is  fo  ill  laid,- 
that  it  is  deteded  by  the  furefl  records  of  anti- 
quity: for,  in  confequence  of  what  they  fabled 
was  committed  by  Orpheus  in  the  Myfteries,  they 
pretended,  thut  he  was  torn  to  pieces  by  the  wo- 
men :  whereas  it  appeared  from  the  infcription  on 
his  monument  at  Dium  in  Macedonia,  that  he  was 
ftruck  dead  with  lightening,  the  envied  death  of 
the  reputed  favourites  of  the  Gods^. 

And  here  the  fathers  will  hardly  efcape  the 
cenfure  of  thofe  who  will  not  allow  high  provoca- 
tion to  be  an  excufe  for  an  unfair  repefentation 
of  an  adverfaiy.  I  fay,  they  will  hardly  efcape 
cenfure,  for  accufloming  themfelves  to  fpeak  of 
the  Myfteries  as  grofs  impieties  and  immoralities, 
in  their  very  original  ^.  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  irt 

fuperftition  of  Egypt :  and  Egypt  we  have  fnewn  to  be  the 
firft  inventrefs  of  the  myf.eries.  Again,  he  fays,  they  n.vorJhi-ped 
and  fewcd  the  creature  more  than  the  creator,  ©T«^a  tod  it^Mcct^a." 
This  was  ftridly  true  wi'h  regard  lo  the  mysteries:  the 
CREATOR  was  there  acknowledged  by  a  fmali  and  feleirt 
number  of  the  participants  ;  but  the  general  and  folemn  wor- 
fnip  in  thefe  celebrations  was  to  their  national  idols.  In  the- 
OPEN  worfhip  of  paganii'm,  €\X}c.^x public  ox  particuhir,  it  was 
not  at  all  true,  for  there  the  creature  was  the  fole  objedt 
of  adoration. 

^  See  Diog.  Laert.  Prca?nium,  Segm.  5. 

S  Idem,  ibid. 

^  What  hath  been  faid  above,  fhews  that  M.  Le  Clerc 
hath  gone  into  the  other  e.xtreme,  when  he  contend  (Bill. 
Ufn--v.  torn,  vi,  p.  73.)  that  the  myiteries  were  not  corrupted 
at  all.  J  can  conceive  no  reafon  for  his  paradox,  but  as  it 
favoured  an  accufation  againft  i\iQ  fathers,  who  have  much  in- 

O  3  a  heat 


198  l^he  Divme  Legation     Book  II. 

a  heat  of  zeal,  breaks  out,  "  Let  him  be  accurfed, 
«'  who  firft  infedled  the  world  with  thefe  impo- 
"  flures,  whether  it  was  Dardanus  —  or  —  i^c. 
"  Thefe  I  make  no  fcruple  to  call  wicked  authors 
"  of  impious  fables  •,  the  fathers  of  an  execrable 
"  fuperftition,  who,  by  this  inftitution,  fowed  in 
^'  human  life  the  feeds  of  vice  and  corruption'.'* 
But  the  wifeft  and  befl  of  the  pagan  world  inva- 
riably hold,  that  the  Myfteries  were  inftituted 
pure  ;  and  propofed  the  nobleft  end,  by  the  wor^ 
thieft  means.  i\nd  though  the  exprefs  teftimony  of 
thefe  writers,  fupported  by  the  reafon  of  the  thing, 
fhould  be  deemed  infufficient,  yet  the  charafter  and 
quality  of  their  Inftitutor  muft  put  the  matter  out 
of  all  doubt.  This  Inftitutor,  as  will  be  feea 
prefently,  was  no  other  than  the  lawgiver,  or  ci- 
vil MAGISTRATE  himfclf.  Whcrevcr  the  My-^ 
fteries  found  public  admittance,  it  was  through 
his  introduition  ^  and  as  oft  as  ever  they  were  ce- 
lebrated, it  was  under  his  infpeftion.  Now  virtue 
is  as  efiential  to  the  prefervation,  and  vice  to  the 
deftru(5tion  of  the  fociety,  over  which  he  prefides, 
as  obedience  and  difobedience  are  to  his  office  and 
authority.  So  that  to  conceive  him  as  difpofed  to 
bring  in,  and  to  encourage,  immoral  pra6tices  un- 
der the  mafl<.  of  religion,  is  the  fame  thing  as  to 

iified  on  the  corruption  of  them —  '*  Les  peres  ont  dit  qu'on 
''  commettoit  toute  forte  d'ordures  dans  ces  ceremonies :  mais 
"  quoi  qu'ils  difent,  il  n'efl:  pas  croiable  que  toute  la  Greece, 
-'  quelque  corrpmpue  qu'elle  ait  ete,  ait  jamais  confenti  que 
*'  les  fiUes  &  les  femmcs  fe  proftituafTent  dans  Ics  myfteres  — 
"  Mais  quelques  auteurs  Chretiens  n'ont  fait  aucunc  difficulte  de 
"  dire  mille  chofes  peu  confcrmes  a  la  verite,  pour  diffamer 
^'  le  paganifme  :  de  peur  qu'il  n\v  eut  que  les  payens  a  qui  on 
**  put  rcprocher  leurs  calomnies.   Bibl.Uui^v.  torn  vi.  p.  120. 

'  "OT^Tiotlo  yv  0  tYiaoi  u^^a.^  aV«;T>;?  aiQ^wVoi;'   site  0  Aa^:'a.i@—~' 
?iT£  —  Tara?   lyc^y'  civ    ei,£X^KKK^<;    (pva-cuf^i   (/.v^av  dbsav,   >C,    ^nat- 

Taj  I  u  jSiw  T«  MtT^gias.  Admonitio  ad  Centes, 

fufped 


Se6l.  4.     0/"  M  o  s  E  s  demo?jJi rated,  199 

fufpedl  the  phyfician  of  mixing  poifons  with  his 
alexipharmax. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  was  this :  the  Fathers 
bore  a  fecret  grudge  to  the  Myfterics  for  their  in- 
jurious treatment  of  chriftianity  on  its  firil  appear- 
ance in  the  world.  We  are  to  obferve,  that  Atheifm, 
by  which  was  meant  a  contempt  of  the  Gods,  was 
reckoned,  in  the  Myfteries,  amongft  the  greateft 
crimes.  So,  in  the  fixth  book  of  the  Mneis  (of  which 
more  hereafter)  the  hotteft  feats  in  Tartarus  are  al- 
lotted to  the  atheift,  luch  as  Salmoneus,  Tityus, 
and  the  Titans,  &c.  Now  the  chriftians,  for  their 
contempt  of  the  national  Gods,  were,  on  their  firft 
appearance,  deemed  atheifts  by  the  people  ;  and  fo 
branded  by  the  Myftagogue,  as  we  find  in  Lucian  % 
and  expofed  amongft  the  reft  in  Tartarus,  in  their 
folemn  fhews  and  reprefentations.  This  maybe  ga- 
thered from  a  remarkable  paffage  in  Origen,  v/here 
Celfus  thus  addrefles  his  adverfary  :  "  But  now,  ar. 
"  you,  good  man,  believe  eternal  punifliments, 
"  even  fo  do  the  interpreters  ot  thefe  holy  myfte- 
"  ries,  the  myftagogues  and  initiators  :  you  threaten 
"  others   with   them  ;    thes£,  on  the   contrary, 

*'  THREATEN  YOU  '." 

'AdluJricri,   toiuvtvi'    n    n;    aO^-S^,    rj    X  Pll.Tl  AN^'J,   -^  'Eirixiicn'S^i 
v)K<l  scciluax.o'Tr^  ToJv  o^y'.ojv,  (^evyiru —   Pfeudonic  .ttis. 

i^  cl  run  tE^wi'  ifCiivuv  'jZ^ifi'iTai  iiKiral  te  k^  [/.•jT'-i[uyo\'  ac  erv  (l/iji/ 
roTg  a.^;^ol?  aVei^.sr?,  exsuoi  os  croi.  lib.  viii.  This  explains  a  pal- 
fage  in  Jerom's  catalogue  of  ecclefiaftical  writers;  and  will  be 
explained  by  it.  The  father  fpeaking  of  Qaadratus,  fayt; 
•'  Cumque  Hadrianus  Athenis  exegiffet  hiemem  invifens  Kl'cu- 
"  fineni,  Sc  omnibus  pene  Graecice  iacris  inillatus,  dediffet  oc- 
"  cafionem  iis,  qui  Chrilliap.os  oderiint,  absque  prx-ccpto  Im- 
*'  peratoris  vexare  credentes,  porrexit  ei  librum  pro  religiorc 
"  noftra."  Now  what  Qccafi(.n  was  afforded  here  to  the  ene- 
mies of  chriftianity,  but  only  this.  That,  the  Grecian  my- 
Ikries  repreienting  the  faithful  in  an  odious  light,  the  emperor 

G  4  This, 


200  '^he  Divine  hegation     Book  IT, 

This,  without  doubt,  was  what  fharpened  the  Fa- 
thers againft  the  Myfteries  •,  and  they  were  not  al- 
ways tender  in  loading  what  they  did  not  approve, 
But  here  comes  in  the  ftrange  part  of  the  ftory  ; 
that,  after  diis,  ihey  fhould  fo  ftudioudy  and  form- 
ally tnnsier  thi  terms,  phrafes,  rites,  ceremonies, 
and  difcipline  of  thefe  odious  myfteries  into  our  holy 
religion  •,  and,  thereby,  very  early  vitiate  and  de- 
prave, what  a  pagan  writer  "^  could  fee,  and  ac- 
knowledge to  be  ABSOLUTA  &  SIMPLEX,  as  it 
came  out  of  the  hands  ot  its  author.  Sure  then  it 
was  fome.more  than  ordinary  veneration  the  people 
had  for  thefe  Myfteries,  that  could  incline  the  Fa- 
thers of  the  church  to  fo  fatal  a  counfel  :  however, 
the  thing  is  notorious  %  and  the  effedls  have  been 
feverely  felt. 

(who  but  juft  then  had  been  initiated  into  almoft  all  of  them) 
might  be  reafonabiy  thought  cllranged  and  inaifpofed  towards 
chriilianity,  and  fo  the  eafier  drawn  to  countenance,  or  con- 
nive at.  any  injuftice  done  unto  it? 

'"  Amm.  Marcellinus,  lib.  .\xi.  cap.  i  6.  Ihft. 

"  The  reader  will  not  be  difpleai-  d  to  find  here  an  exafl:  ac- 
count of  this  whole  matter,  extrafted  from  a  very  curious  dif- 
fertation  of  a  great  and  unexceptionable  writer.  If.  Cafaubon, 
in  his  xvi''i  Exir.  on  the  AnncJs  of  Baronius.--  "  Pii  patres  quum 
*'  inrelligerent,  quo  facilius  ad  verit;:tis  amorem  corruptas  fu- 
"  perltitione  mentes  traducerent ;  &  verba  facrori'm  illorum 
"  quam  plurima,  in  fuos  ufus  tranllulerunt;  &  cum  doftrina: 
"  vera:-  capita  aliquot  fic  tradarunt,  turn  ritus  etiam  nonnullos 
*'  ejusmodi  inflituerunt ;  ut  videantur  cum  Paulo  dicere  genti- 

"   bus    Voluifl'e,   a    dyr^nAic  tStTiZiiTi.   tccj'ia.  no'".ci\yi7\'ho(/%j   V(MV. 

"  Hinc  igitureit,  quod  facramenta  patres  appeilarunt  myjieria^ 

"   i^vncr&ic,  TEAila;,   ts^kw-si  .  E'TrcTrlEisi?,   fl'.C  £7r(/4'S'aS  TEA£rrei«  > 

*'  interdum  etiam  o-Jio.,  fed  rarius :  peculiariter  vero  euchariili- 
*'  am  TEAslaJ*  T<X;1iji.  Dititur  etiam  antononiatice  to  fAV'Xfi'y-, 
"  aut  numero  multitudinis  Ta  f-ii-Tirfja.  Apud  patres  pafiim  de 
*'  facra  comniunione  leges  (peiitlci.  /jLvry^pia.  vel  to  ^^'f-ilov  ^vro- 
"  i^iov,  Gregorio  Magno,  7n'>%nv.}n  iS'  paiicju/um  myjleriurn. 
■ '  MvaiS-at  in  ve'erum  monumcntis  fipe  leges  pro  coenae  do- 
"  minics  fieri  particeps  ;  ^.v%a\v  pro  ipfa  aftione  ;  fx.vrr,?  eft 
-  facerdos,  qui  etiam  dicitur  h  y.vfxfuyuy  $c  o  l>^'-^.i?~ir>]<;-     i'^  li- 

We 


SeCx.  4.     ^  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrafed.  20 1 

We  have  all  along  fuppofed  the  inyjleries  an  in- 
vention of  the  lawgiver:   and,  indeed,  we  have 

"  turgiis  Grscis  Sc  alibi  etiam  n  >£?«  t£>.£1^^,  &  ^  Kf'j(p\a.  ic,  l^U 
*'  (poC^  ^i-h'n\  ell  euchariftia.     Qi^iemadmouum  autem  gradtTs 
"  quidem  in  mylleriis  paganicis  fervati  funt,  fie  Dionyfius  uni- 
*•  verlam  r^v  te^/iwv  tv  tEftfyiai',  tradidonem  facramento  um  di- 
*'  ftinguit  in  tres  aftiones,  quae  &  ritibus  &  temporibus  erant 
*•   divilas:   prima  eft  xaOa^^i^-,  purgatio;  altera   tj.vY,ai<;.  imtia- 
■•'  tio  ;  tertia,  TiKiUc^.-,.,  confimmatio  ;  quam  &  iiro-^-av  (aepe  no- 
"   niinat.     Spem  meliorem  niorientibas  attuliffe  myfteria  Atti- 
"  ca  dicebat  paulo  ante  M.  Tullius.     Patres  contra,  certam 
"  falutem  &  vitam  a;ternam  Chrifti  myfteria  digne  percipienti- 
**  bus  afferre,  confirnmbant :  qui  ilia  contemnerent,  fervari  non 
'*  polTe  :  faiem  vero  S:  fruftv,m  ultimum  lacramentorum  Bicoau, 
*'  deificalicnetn,  dicere  non  dubitarunt ;  quum  icirent  vanarum 
*'  fuperftitionum  audlores,  fuis  cpoptis  eum  honorem  audere 
*•  fpondere.     Faffim  igitur  legas  apud  Patres,  t>5;  'np-2';  (a^v  afcLi- 
"  y.cc;  t;A®-  if;  Bcuffi^,  finem  lacramentorum  efl'e,  ut  qui  vera 
**  fide  ilia  perciperent,  in  futura  vita  dii  evadant.     Athanafms 
*'  verbo  SioTroiHcJi;!  in  earn  rem  eft  ufus ;  quod  mox  ab  eodem 
*'  explicatur,  participatio7ie  fpiritus  conjinighnur    dtttati.     De 
"  fymbolis  Cacramentorum,  per  quae  divinx  illag  ceremonis  ce- 
♦*  lebrantur,  nihil  attinet  hoc  loco  dicere  ;  illud  vero   quod  eft 
*'  &  appellotur  fidei  fymbolum,  diverfi  eft  generis,  &  iidelibus 
**  teilerae  ufum.  prsftat,   per  quam  fe  mutuo  agnofcunt,  qui  pi- 
*'  etati  facramento  dixerunt ;  cujusmodi  tefferas  fuifte  etiam  ia 
*'  paganorum  myfteriis  oftcndimus.     Formulse  illi  in  myfteriis 
*'  pei-agendis  ufurpats,  Proculejlc,  profuni,  refpoiidet  inlitargia 
**  hsec  per  diaconos  pronuntiari  folita ;  oo-^i  nMy.y^si^jpoi  iJjpr.iK- 
*'  bi\i ;    vel,   i^u    -j-e^TTo^iiTTs  iia-oi  ivsfynfJpoi.  oca   dj/.v-nlci  j    omnes 
*'   catechufneni,foras  difccdite,  omnes  pojfejjt,  omnes  non  initiati. 
"  Noftu  ritus    multi  in  myfteriis   peragebantur ;  no6lu  etiam 
''  iniciacio  Chriftianorum.  inchoabacur  j   Gaudentio  nomiiiatur 
*'  fpletididijj'imn  nox  <vigiliarinn.    Quod  autem  dicebanms  de  fi- 
♦'  lentio  m  facris  opertaneis  fervari  a  paginis  fo  ito,  id  inftitu- 
♦'  turn  veteres  chriftiani  fic  probarunt,  utreligiofa  ejus  obferv- 
*'  atione  myftas  omnes  longe  fuperarint.     Quemadmodura  igi- 
*'  tur  dicit  Seneca,  faadiora  facrorum  folis  initiatis  fuifie  nota, 
"  &  Jambiichusde  Philofophia  i'ythagoreorum  in  toL  K-rot;.''  fl«» 
"  qude  efferri  non  poterant,  &  ra  .xs^*,  quae  foras  efferre  jus 
*'  erat ;  icauniverfam  doitrinam  chrirtianam  veteres  difti  gae- 
*'  bant  in  ~d  l^pofa,  id  eft,  ea  qua:  enuntiari  apud  omnes  po- 
.*'  terant,  &  -vd.  aV.'^'lijla  arcana  temere  non  vulganda  ;  t^ ')  y 
>f  lACiln,   inquit    BiiAliws,    aic-JTidru./     t»   ol  Kvi^vj'a.ciix   or;y.ucruv' 

nothing 


202  ^/^^  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

nothing  to  do  with  them,  but  in  that  view. 
Now  though,  from  what  hath  been  faid,  the  in- 
telhgent  reader  will  colledl  we  have  not  fuppofed 
amifs,  yet  as  the  pertinency  of  the  whole  difcourfe 
depends  upon  it,  he  may  perhaps  expeft  us  to  be  a 
little  more  particular. 

I'hat  the  myfieries  were  invented,  eftablifhed, 
and  fupported  by  lawgivers,  may  be  feen, 

I .  From  the  place  of  their  original ;  which  was 
Egypt.  This  Herodotus,  Diodorus,  and  Plu- 
tarch, who  collect  from  ancient  teftim-onies,  ex- 
prefly  affirm ;  and  in  this,  all  antiquity  concurs  •, 
the  Eleufinian  myfieries,  particularly,  retaining  the 
very  Egyptian  Gods,  in  whofe  honour  they  were 
celebrated  ;  Ceres  and  Triptolemus  being  only  two 

*'  ilai,  dogmata filent'io fremuntur ;  precoma puhlicaiitur.  Chry- 
"  foftomus,  de  iis  qui  baptizantur  pro  mortuis ;  Cupio  quidem 
"  p'^^Jp''^^^  '''^^  dicer e  ;  Jed  propter  non  iiiitiatos  non  audeo :  hi 
"  intcrpretationem  reddunt  nobis  diffciliorem  ;  du7nnos  cogtint,  aut 
"  P^^Jpi^^^  "0^  dicere,  aut  arcana,  qua  taceri  dcbe?it,  apud  ipfos 
*'  efferre.  Atque  ut  '^o^x^^^"-^  '^'^  fjuvr-oficc  dixerunt  pagani, 
*'  de  iis  qui  arcana  myfteriorum  evulgabanti  ita  dixit  Diony- 
"  fius.  Vide  ne  enunties,  aut  parum  reiier enter  habeas  fantla 
•'  fanBorum.  Paffim  apud  Auguftinum  leges,  Sacrarnentum. 
*'  quodnorunt  jideles.  In  Johannem  traft.  xi.  autemfic;  Om- 
"  nes  catechumeni  jam  credunt  in  nomine  Chrijii,  SED  Jesus 
*'  NON  SE  CREDIT  Eis.  Mox  InttrrogctJius  catcchitmenumy 
"  Matiducas  carnem  fJii  hominis  ?  nefcit  quid  dicimus.  Ite- 
*'  rum,  Nefciuvt  catechumeni  quid accipiant  chriftiani :  erubefcant 
"  ergo  quia  nr/ciunt. "  We  liave  obferved  above,  that  the  Fa- 
thers gave  very  eafy  credit  to  what  was  reported  of  the  abomi- 
nations in  the  mvjicrics ;  and  the  eafier,  perhap?,  on  account 
of  the  fecrecy  with  which  they  were  celebraied.  The  fame 
afFeftation  of  fecrecy  in  the  chrifti.in  rites,  and  the  fame  lan- 
guage in  fpeaking  of  them,  without  doubt  procured  as  eafy 
credit  to  thoie  calumnies  of  murder  and  incell,  clarged  upon 
them  by  the  pagans.  Nay,  what  is  Hill  more  remarkable, 
thofe  very  fpecific  enormities  in  which  their  own  myfieries  were 
.then  known  to  offend,  they  objefted  to  the  chriitians,  "  Alii 
"  eos  [chriiiianos]  ferunt  ipfius  antiflitis  ac  facerdotis  colerg 
*'  genitalia."    Cacil.  apud  Minut.  in  0£ia-v. 

other 


Sedt.  4-     ^  Moses  demonjirafed.  203 

other  names  for  Ifis  °  and  Ofiris ;  as  we  have  feen 
above  from  Theodoret :  and  fo  Tibulkis,  — ■ 
Primus  aratra  manu  follerti  fecit  Osiris, 
Et  teneram  fcrro  foUicitavit  humiim  ^. 

Hence  itis,  that  the  universal  nature,  or  the 
iirft  caufe,  the  objed:  of  all  the  Myfteries,  yet  dif- 
guifed  under  diverfe  names,  fpeaking  of  herfelf 
in  Apuleius,  concludes  the  ennumeration  of  her 
various  myftic  rites,  in  thefe  words, — "  Prifcaque 
"  do6tiina  polkntes  ^gyptii,  ceremoniis  me 
"  prorfus  PROPRiis  percolentes,  appellant  vero 
"  NOMINE  reginam  Isidem  ''." 

But  the  funilitude  between  the  rites  praflifed, 
and  the  dodrines  taught  in  the  Grecian  and  Egy- 

°  "\ertq  J/ Xfi  fial^i.  mv  'iLXX-n'-uv  yXcwav  Ar/xr'riii-.  Herodot.  lib,  ii. 
cap.  59.     And  again,  cap.  156.  AnyJ,T/)p  o\"\mc. 

V  Mr.  Le  Clerc  owns,  that  Plutarch,  Diodorus,  and  Theo- 
doret have  all  faid  this ;  yet,  the  better  to  fupport  his  fcheme 
in  the  interpretation  of  the  hiftory  of  Ceres,  he  has  thought  fit 
to  contradift  them  ;  but  his  reafon  is  very  fingular,  —  "  C'e- 
"  toit  la  coutume  des  payens  de  dire  que  des  divinitez  etoient 
"  les  memes,  lors  qu'ils  avoient  remarque  quelque  legere  reJT- 
"  femblance  entre  elles,  dans  la  faujjfe  pcnj'ee  ou  2 Is  etoient  que 
"  Jes  plus  grands  de  leurs  dieux  s*  etoient  fait  conncitre  dans  toute 
*'  la  terre:  au  lieu  qu'ii  n'y  en  avoit  aucun  qui  ne  fut  ro- 
*'  piQ^E,  c'eft  a  dire  particulier  a  un  lieu  —  On  en  trouvera 
"  divers  exemples  dans  le  petit  traite  De  la  drejfe  de  Syrie.'"  Bib. 
uni'u.  torn  vi.  p.  121.  It  is  very  true,  that  the  Gods  of  the 
pagans  were  local  deities ;  but  to  think  tlie  ancients  v.ere  igno- 
rant of  this,  when  it  is  from  the  nature  and  genius  of  paganifm, 
as  delivered  by  them,  that  we  come  to  know  it,  is  a  very  extra- 
ordinary conceit.  Indeed  the  moderns,  pofieiled  with  their  own 
ideas,  were  and  are  generally  unattentive  to  this  truth ;  and  fo 
have  committed  many  errors  in  their  reafonings  on  the  fubjcft; 
but  that  principle  of  the  intercommunity  of  nxjor-Jhip  in  ancient 
paganifm  (explained  in  another  place)  would  have  the  fame 
eftecl  in  fpreadmg  the  v/orfhip,  as  if  their  Gods  were  univer- 
fal  and  not  local ;  which  fhews  the  ancients  not  miftaken  in 
the  point  in  quellion.  Yet  Mr.  Le  Clerc,  in  another  place, 
could  fee  that  Ailarte  was  certainly  Ifis,  as  Adonis  was  Ofiris ; 
and  this,  merely  from  the  identity  of  their  ceremonies. 
'I  Me^aj/i.  lib.  xi. 

ptian 


204  ^'^^  Bivine  Legation     Book  II. 

ptian  myfteries,  would  be  alone  fufficient  to  point 
up  to  their  original :  fuch  as  the  fecrecy  required 
of  the  initiated ;  which,  as  we  fhall  fee  hereafter, 
peculiarly  charad:erized  the  Egyptian  teaching  ; 
fuch  as  the  dodrines  taught  of  a  metempfychojis^ 
and  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  punimments, 
which  the  Greek  writers  agree  to  have  been  firft 
fet  abroach  by  tne  Egyptians'"  •,  fuch  as  ahftiner.ce 
enjoined  from  domeilic  fowl,  filh,  and  beans  % 
the  pecufuir  fupcrftition  of  the  Egyptians  -,  fuch  as 
the  Ritual  compofed  in  hieroglyphics^  an  invention 
ot  the  Egyptians'.  But  ic  would  be  enaiefs  to  fec- 
kon  up  all  the  particulars  in  which  the  Egyptian 
and  Grecian  myfteries  agreed :  it  fhall  fuffice  to  fay, 
that  they  were  in  all  things  the  fame ". 

Again ;  nothing  but  the  fuppofition  of  this  com- 
mon original  to  all  the  Grecian  myfteries  can  clear 
up  and  reconcile  the  difputes  which  arofe  amongft 
the  Grecian  ftates  and  cities,  concerning  the  firlt 
rife  of  the  myfieries-y  every  one  claiming  to  be  ori- 
ginal to  the  reft.  Thus  Thrace  pretended  that  they 
came  firft  from  thence;  Crete  contefted  the  ho- 
nour with  thole  barbarians  ;  and  Athens  claimed  it 

"■  Timxus  the  Locrian,  in  \\\%ho6kOfthefoulofthe'worldy 
fpeaking  of  the  neceffity  of  inculcating  the  doftrine  of  future 
punifliments,  calls  them  i'lM:.  i'-A-  H  NA  foreign  tor- 
ments; by  which  name  both  Latin  and  Greek  writers  gene- 
rally mean,  Egyljtiun,  where  the  fubjedl  is  religion. 

'"  See  Porphyrius  De  Akjlui. 

^  Senex  comiffimusdticit  me  protinus  ad  ipfas  fores  asdis  am- 
pliffimas,  ritiique  folenni  afperfionis  ceiebraio  niyi^erio,  ac  ma- 
tutino  peradlo  iacrificio,  de  opertis  ady  ti  profert  quosdam  libros. 
Uteris  ignorabilibus  praenotatos ;  partim  Ficuais  cujuscemo- 

DI     ANiMALIUM,      CONCEFTI      SERMONIS       COMPENDIOSA 

VERBA  suGGERENTEs,  partim  nodofis,  &  in  modum  rotae 
tortuofis,  capreolatimque  condenfis  apicibus.  Apul.  Mttam. 
libxi. 

T«f  ft/v'auTWi  iX.^tv  'AbLuxiH^  xj  7^^  Alyv7rl.ii<;.     Diod.  Sic.   lib.  i. 

from 


Sed.  4.     of  Moses  demonjlrated.  205 

from  both.  And  at  that  time,  when  they  had  for- 
gotten the  true  original,  it  was  impoflible  to  fettle 
and  adjuft  their  differences :  for  each  could  prove 
that  he  did  not  borrow  from  others;  and,  at  the 
fame  time,  feeing  a  fimilitude  in  the  rites'^,  would 
conclude,  that  they  had  borrowed  from  him.  But 
the  owning  Egypt  for  their  common  parent,  clears 
up  all  difficulties  :  by  accounting  tor  that  general 
likenefs  which  gave  birth  to  every  one's  pretenfions. 
Now,  in  Egypt,  all  religious  worfhip  being 
planned  and  eftabliflied  by  flatefmen,  and  dire6t- 
ed  to  the  ends  of  policy,  v/e  muft  conclude,  that 
die  myfieries  were  originally  invented  by  legis- 
lators. 

2.  The  fages  who  brought  them  out  of  Egypt, 
and  propagated  them  in  Afia,  in  Greece,  and 
Britain,  were  all  kings  or  lawgivers  ;  fuch  as  Zo- 
roafter,  Inachus,  Orpheus  "^^  Melampus,  Tro- 
phonius,  Minos,  Cinyras,  Eredheus,  and  the 
Druids. 

3.  They  were  under  the  fuperintendance  of  the 
State.  A  magiftrate,  intitled  BASIAETZ,  or  king, 
prefided  in  the  Eleufmian  myfteries.  Lyfias  in- 
forms us,  that  this  king  was  to  offer  up  the  public 
prayers,  according  to  their  country  rites ;  and  to 
fee  that  nothing  impious  or  immoral  crept  into  the 
celebration  y.  This  title  given  to  the  prefident  of 
the  myfteries,  was,  doubrlefs,  in  memory  of  the 
firll  founder :  to  whom  were  joined  four  officers, 

^^  —  Kaj  T«  U^a,  TfOTTOv  Tiva  xomo'jrcisi'^at'  ravra  r,  «J  Tiuii  Hoc- 
\l'.^pc/,Kt:)v,  x^  Tat  I  y^yif/y-u,  y^  a.y.'hx  rs7..v.w'  2j!si  T&  ts;  «rpcro'o>.s?J  ?is' 
■yio^ui  -a?  uv-rnc,    Strabo,  lib.  X. 

^  Of  whom  Ariftophanes  fays,  '0^<pjO\-  [j-h  yy-TsxHa?  S'  riiMv 
KiCii^eii;,  (po  uv  -r'  cini-xiSscti'  "  Orpheus  taught  us  the  myfteries, 
"  and  to  abftain  from  murder,"  i.  e.  from  a  life  of  rapine  and 
violence,  fuch  as  men  lived  in  t]\e  frate  of  nature. 

chofen 


2o6  7he  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

chofen  by  the  people,  called  EniMEAHTAT  or  cu- 
rators ^ ;  the  priefts  were  only  under-officers  to 
thefe,  and  had  no  fharc  in  the  direftion  :  for  this 
being  the  legiflator's  favourite  inftitution,  he  took 
all  poffible  care  for  its  fupport  \  which  could  not 
be  done  more  effeclually,  than  by  his  watching 
over  it  himfelf.  On  the  other  hand,  his  inter- 
fering too  openly  in  religious  matters  would  have 
defeated  his  end  -,  and  the  people  would  foon  have 
come  to  regard  this  high  folemnity  as  a  mere  en- 
gine of  ftate  ;  on  which  account,  he  carefully  kept 
behind  the  curtain.  For  though  it  be  now  appa- 
rent that  the  myfieries  were  the  invention  of  the  ci- 
vil magiftrate,  yet  even  fome  ancients,  who  have 
mentioned  the  myjleries^  feemed  not  to  be  apprized 
of  it,  and  their  ignorance  hath  occafioned  great 
embroilment  in  all  they  fay  on  this  fubjedl.  The 
reader  may  fee  by  the  fecond  chapter  of  Meurfius's 
Eleufinia^  how  much  the  ancients  were  at  a  lofs  for 
the  true  founder  of  thofe  myfieries ;  fome  giving  the 
inftitution  to  Ceres  j  fome  to  Triptolemus ;  others 
to  Eumolpus  ;  others  to  Mufaeus  •,  and  fome  again 
to  Eredtheus.  Flow  then  fhall  v/e  difengage  our- 
felves  from  this  labyrinth,  into  which  Meurfius  has 
led  us,  and  in  which,  his  guard  of  ancients  keep  us 
inclofed  ?  This  clue  will  eafily  conduft  us  through 
it.  It  appears,  from  what  hath  been  faid,  that 
Ereftheus,  king  of  Athens,  eftablifhed  the  my- 
fteries'' ;  but  that  the  people  unluckily  confounded 
the  inftitutor,  with  the  priests,  Eumolpus  and 
Mufseus,  v/ho  firfb  officiated  in  the  rites  j  and, 
with  Ceres  and  Triptolemus,  the  deities,  in  whofe 
honour  they  were  celebrated.  And  thefe  miftakes 
were  natural  enough :  the  poets  would  be  apt,  in 

'See  Meurfius's  Eleufmia,  cap.  xv. 
*  And  fo  fays  Diodorus  Siculus,  lib.  i.  Eihl. 

the 


Se(ft.  4.     o/"  M  o  s  E  s  demon/irated.  207 

the  licence  of  their  figurative  ftyle,  to  call  the 
Gods,  in  whofe  name  the  myfteries  were  perform- 
ed, xht  founders  of  thofe  myfteries  ;  and  the  people, 
feeing  only  the  miniftry  of  the  officiating  priefts 
(the  legiflator  keeping  out  of  fight)  in  good  earneft 
believed  thofe  myftagogues  to  be  the  founders. 
And  yet,  if  it  were  reafonable  to  expedt  from 
poets  or  people,  attention  to  their  own  fancies  and 
opinions,  one  would  think  they  might  have  diftin- 
guifhed  better,  by  the  help  of  that  mark,  which 
Ereflheus  left  behind  him,  to  afcertain  his  title  ; 
namely,  the  ereflion  of  the  officer  called  /3«(r<A£vV, 
or  king. 

4.  But  this  original  is  ftill  further  feen  from 
the  qualities  required  in  the  afpirants  to  the  my- 
fteries. According  to  their  original  inftitution,  nei- 
xhtv  Jlaves  nor  foreigners  were  to  be  admitted  into 
them^  Now  if  the  myfteries  were  inftituted,  pri- 
marily for  the  fake  of  teaching  religious  truths, 
there  can  be  no  reafon  given  why  every  man,  with 
the  proper  moral  qualities,  fhould  not  be  admitted  : 
but  fuppofing  them  inftituted  by  the  ftate  for  poli- 
tical purpofes,  a  very  good  one  may  be  affigned  ; 
iox  flaves  ^nd  foreigners  have  there  neither  property 
nor  country.  When  afterwards  the  Greeks,  by  fre- 
quent confederations  againft  the  Perfian,  the  com- 
mon enemy  of  their  liberties,  began  to  confider 
themfelves  as  one  people  and  community,  the  My- 
fteries were  extended  to  all  who  fpoke  the  Greek 
language.  Yet  the  ancients,  not  refledting  on  the  ori- 

y,^'nvoci'    'h'j  c£  HX.  iiov  SENOlS  T6ts  (a-vhcuch —  Schol.  Hom.  //.  ©. 

It  was  the  fame  in  the  Cabiric  myfteries,  as  we  learn  from 
Diodbrus  Siculus,  lib.  v.  who  fpeaks  of  the  like  innovatioa 
made  there. —  ocKiTot  Ka  'oj^ut®^  henoiS  ^v'^acci.  As  to  flaves 
hear  Ariftophanes  in  his  &£o-fxo(pipia^. 

—  av  0''  c;' 7ri.fi'  w  S^ccrl'  o5i7rc^jJ» 
AOTAOIS  yxp  UK  l|sr'  «xe«v  twv  Koyuv. 

3  ginal 


2o8  The  Divine  Legation     Book  IL 

ginal  and  end  of  their  inftitution,  were  much  per- 
plexed for  the  reafons  of  an  exclufion  fo  apparently 
capricious.  Lucian  tells  us,  in  l^he  life  of  his  friend 
Demonax^  that  that  great  philofopher  had  the  cou- 
rage, one  day,  to  afl<:  the  Athenians,  why  they  ex- 
cluded barbarians  from  their  Myfteries,  when  Eu- 
molpus,  a  barbarous  Thracian,  had  eftablifhed 
them "  :  but  he  does  not  tell  us  their  anfvver.  One 
of  the  moft  judicious  of  the  modern  critics  was 
as  much  at  a  lofs  •,  and  therefore  thinks  the  re- 
ftraint  ridiculous,  as  implying,  that  the  inftitutors 
thought,  the  fpeaking  the  Greek  tongue  contri- 
buted to  the  advancement  of  piety  ^. 

5.  Another  proof  of  this  original  may  be  deduced 
from  what  was  taught,  promifcuouPiy  to  all  the  in- 
itiated ',  which  was,  the  necejfity  of  a  ^virtuous  and 
holy  life,  to  obtain  a  happy  immortality.  Now  this, 
we  know,  could  not  come  from  the  facerdotal 
warehoufe  :  the  priefts  could  afford  a  better  penny- 
worth of  their  elylium,  at  the  eafy  expence  of 
oblations  and  facrifices  :  for,  as  our  great  philo- 
fopher (who,  however,  was  not  aware  of  this  ex- 
traordinary inftitution  for  the  fupport  of  virtue, 
and  therefore  concludes  too  generally)  well  ob- 
ferves,  "  the  priefts  made  it  not  their  bufinefs  to 
"  teach  the  people  virtue  :  if  they  were  diligent  in 

tcxacci,  %lct,  Tiva.  alTia.v  a.irox.^.t'.ij'ri  t^c  ^(zc^cifsq'  xj  ruvra  in  r*)» 
Ti'>\P:r,\i  txvroTr.  xx'^t^T'^c-a/j-Bvn  'EvfA  "Kna,  ^OLi-^a-fH  >^  ©faxc?  onli^.     Eut 

the  faft,  their  not  being  a  grecian,  but  a  firc'ign,  that  is,  bar- 
barous, invention,  is  proved  by  their  very  name,  ii.v"ft;\oi.  from 
the  eaftern  dialetf!-,  mifiw  or  mifm-,  res  aut  locus  abfcopditus.  . 
''  Auftor  eft  Libani  ?  in  Corinthiorum  aciione,  myftagogos 
fumma  diligen^ia  ii--ciandos  ante  omnia  monuiire,  ut  manus 
puras  an  mumque  fibi  ferva  ent  purum  :  y^,  -r-,,-!  ©i'v,,;  'l.;.Ar;iia^  ; ; 
Sc  ut  in  I'oce  {we.  Jcrmnne  Gro'cos /<  pnefiarcnt :  hoc  quidcm 
profedo  ridirilum,  qrafi  faceret  ad  veram  piefatem,  Grs-a 
potius  quam  alia  lingua  ioqui.  If.  Cafauboni  Excrcu  xvi.  t-.d 
Anitaks  Eccl.  Baron, 

"  their 


Sedl.  4*     of  Moses  d(^mo??/IrtiteJ.  209 

*'  their  obfervations  and  ceremonies,  pundlual  in 
^'  their  feafts  and  lolemnities,  and  the  tricks  of  re- 
^'  hgion,  the  holy  tribe  alTurcd  theni  that  the  Gods 
"  were  pleafed,  and  they  looked  no  further  :  few 
"  went  to  the  fchools  of  philofophers,  to  be  in- 
"  ftriifted  in  their  duty,  and  to  know  what  was 
*'  good  and  evil  in  their  anions  :•  the  priefts  fold 
*'  the  better  pennyworths,  and  therefore  had  all 
"  the  cuftom  :  for  luftrations  and  facrifices  v/cre 
•'  much  eafier  than  a  clean  confcience  and  a  fteddy 
"'  courfe  of  virtue  j  and  an  expiatory  facrifice,'  that 
"  atoned  for  the  want  of  it,  much  more  conveni- 
"  ent  than  a  ftrift  and  holy  life^"  Now  we  may 
may  be  allured,  that  an  inftitution,  which  taught 
the  necefiity  of  a  ftrict  and  holy  life,  could  not  but 
be  the  invention  of  lawgivers,  to  whofe  fchemes 
virtue  was  fo  neceffary. 

6.  Another  ftrong  prefumption  of  this  original  is 
the  great  ufe  of  the  inyfteries  to  the  Hate  :  fo  amply 
confeffed  by  the  wifeit  writers  of  antiquity,  and  io 
clearly  fcen  from  the  nature  of  the  thing  itiell. 

7.  But,  laftly,  we  have  the  teftimony  ot  the 
knowing  Plutarch  for  this  original  ^  who,  in  his 
treatife  Of  Ifis  awd  Ofiris,  expreQy  tells  us,  that  it 
was  "  a  moil  ancient  opinion,  delivered  down,  from 
"  LEGISLATORS  and  Divines,  to  poets  and  philo- 
*'  fophers,  the  author  of  it  entirely  unknown,  but 
"  the  belief  of  it  indelibly  eftabliflied,  not  only  in 
"  tradition,  and  the  talk  of  the  vulgar,  but  in  the 
"  MYSTERIES  and  in  the  facred  offices  of -religion, 
*'  both  am.ongft  Greeks  and  barbarians,  fpread  all 
"  over  the  face  of  the  globe,That  the  Univerfe  was 
*«  not  uplield  fortuicouny,  without  Mind,  Reafon, 
*'  or  a  Governor  to  prefide  over  its  revolutions  *"." 

«   Locke's  ReafonahJenefs of  Chr'ijl'tanity. 

Vol.  I.  '     P  It 


2  10  ^he  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

It  is  now  fubmitted  to  the  reader,  whether  it  be 
not  tairly  proved,  that  the  mysteries  wereinvent- 
ed  by  the  legislator,  to  affirm  and  eftahlijh  the  ge- 
neral do^rine  of  a  ■providence^  by  inculcating  the  belief 
cf  a  future  (late  ofreivards  and  punifaments.  Indeed, 
if  we  may  beHeve  a  certain  ancient,  who  appears  to 
have  been  well  verfed  in  thefe  matters,  they  gained 
their  end,  by  clearing  up  all  doubts  concerning  the 
righteous  government  of  the  Gods^, 

We  have  fcen  in  general,  how  fond  and  tena- 
cious ancient  paganifm  was  of  this  extraordinary 
.Rite,  as  of  an  inilirution  fupremely  ufeful  both  to 
SOCIETY  and  religion.  But  this  will  be  {t^n 
more  fully  in  what  I  now  proceed  to  lay  before  the 
Reader  j  an  examination  of  two  celebrated  pieces 
of  antiquity,  the  famous  Sixth  book  of  Virgil's 
uEneis,  and  t\\Q  Metamorphofis  o/Apuleius:  The 
firft  of  which  will  fhcw  us  of  what  ufe  the  myfte- 
ries  were  efteemed  to  society  ;  and  the  fecond,  of 
what  ufe  to  religion. 

An  inquiry  into  iEneas's  adventure  to  the 
fnades,  will  have  this  farther  advantage,  the  in- 
Ilru6ting  us  in  the  JJoeivs  and  reprefentations  of  the 
wyfieries  ;  a  part  of  their  hiftory,  which  the  form 
of  this  difcourfe  upon  them  hath  not  yet  enabled 
us  to  give.  So  that  nothing  will  be  now  wanting 
to  a  perfect  knowledge  of  this  moil  extraordinary 
and  important  inftitution. 

For,  the  defcent  of  Virgil's  hero  into  the  infernal 
regions,  I  prefume,  was  no  other  than  a  figurative 

;«!?,   uWKu  i>  Tc  TEAETAIZ,   tv  ri  Bvir'nzn,  y^  l3xp€ciP0;(;  j^^EMijo-i 

Til  uuTc'^-ctTiJ  TO  Tnoiv.  —— 

S  'O  c\  TdTt;    f*vr»«orf  lyHa.f,i^'>i~3Ci    ra-p^^ly^-'KyMffii   v7toy.gnxq,    Kj 

>o?  iVi  t)]v  'zJ^I  TijV  S(i.';  i'^^  -^fi!c.-«'«v  «;a?.'«C'\'1'.  Sopateriii  Dii'i'/. 


Irfl 


,j-.r, 


en- 


Se(ft.  4-     ^/  Moses  demonjlrated.  211 

defcription  of  an  initiation-,  and  particularly, 
a  very  exa6l  pifture  of  the  spectacles  in  the 
Eleusinian  myfteries ;  where  every  thing  was 
done  in  fhew  and  machinery  ;  and  where  a  repre- 
fentation  ^  of  the  hiilory  o'^  Ceres  aflorded  oppor- 
tunity of  bringing  in  the  fcenes  of  heaven,  helJ, 
elyfium,  purgatory,  and  whatever  related  to  the 
future  ftate  of  men  and  heroes. 

But,  to  foften  this  paradox  all  we  can,  it  may 
be  proper  to  enquire  into  the  nature  of  the  Mneis. 

Homer's  two  poems  had  each  a  plain  and  entire 
ftory,  to  convey  as  perfe<51:  a  moral :  and  in  this,  he 
is  juftly  efteemed  excellent.  The  Roman  poec 
could  make  no  improvements  here  :  the  Greek 
was  complete  and  perfect  •,  lb  that  the  patrons  of 
Virgil,  even  Scaliger  himfelf,  are  forced  to  feek 
for  his  fuperior  advantages  in  his  epifodes,  defcri- 
ption?, fimilies,  and  in  the  chaftity  and  corrednefs 
of  his  thoughts  and  didion.  In  the  mean  time 
they  have  all  overlooked  the  priiicipal  advantage 
he  had  over  his  great  exemplar. 

Virgil  found  the  epic  poem  in  the  fir (l  rank  of 
human  compofitions;  but  this  was  too  narrow  a 
foundation  for  his  enlarged  ambition :  he  was  not 
content  that  its  fubject  Hiould  be  to  inftrud:  the 
world  in  morals  •,  much  lefs  did  he  think  of  phy- 
sics, though  he  was  fond  of  natural  enquiries,  and 
Homer's  allegorizers  h^.d  opened  a. back-door  to 
let  in  the  Philofopher  with  the  Poet ;  but  he  afpi- 
red  to  make  it  a  system  of  politics.  On  this 
plan  he  wrote  the^mj  j  which  is,  indeed,  as  perfe(5t 

fA-iit)    Xj*  T«?   ic^/X«?  TO     TEJty.'C'   £^:';'</     >^  TWT&V  TOK  ^V^O)  «5   0\]/'^  riyo-il 

70  fv    'E7\ila-7n   'bv^.    Juft.  Mart.    Orat.    ad  Gr^ec.   prope  init. 

d^'Trayriv,  iC  to  •irnS^  u-jTui*  'EAsycj;  ^x^a^s't.    Clemens  Alex    in 
Protreptico,  p.  9. 

P   3  aa 


212  ^he   Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

an  Inftitute  in  verfe,  by  example,  as  the  Re- 
publks  of  Plato  and  Tully  were  in  profe  by  pre- 
cept. Thus  he  added  a  new  province  to  epic 
poefy.  But  though  every  one  faw  that  Auguftus 
was  fliadowed  in  the  perfon  of  iEneas,  yet  it  being 
fuppofed  that  thofe  poHtical  inilruftions,  which 
the  poet  defigned  for  the  fervice  of  mankind,  were 
Iblely  for  the  ufe  of  his  mafter,  they  miffed  of  the 
true  nature  of  the  poem.  And  in  this  ignorance, 
the  fucceeding  epic  writers  following  a  work  whofe 
genius  they  did  not  underfland,  wrote  worfe  than 
if  they  had  only  taken  Homer,  and  his  fimpler 
plan  for  their  direftion.  A  great  modern  poet,  and 
befl  judge  of  their  merit,  allures  us  of  the  fa6l ; 
and  what  has  been  faid  will  help  us  to  explain  the 
reafon  of  it :  "  The  other  epic  poets  (fays  this  ad- 
*'  mirable  writer)  have  ufed  the  lame  praftice  [that 
"  of  Virgil,  of  running  two  fables  into  one]  but 
"  generally  carry  it  fo  far,  as  to  fuperinduce  a 
*'  multiplicity  of  fables,  deftroy  the  unity  of  ac- 
"  tion,  and  lofe  their  readers  in  an  unreafonablc 
"  length  of  time'.'* 

Such  was  the  revolution  Virgil  brought  about 
in  this  noblefb  region  of  poefy ;  an  improvement 
fo  great,  that  the  truefl  poet  had  need  of  all  the 
afTiftance  the  fublimefl  genius  could  lend  him  :  no- 
thing lefs  than  the  joint  aid  of  the  Iliad  and  Odyjfes 
being  able  to  furnifh  out  the  execution  of  his  great 
idea :  for  a  fyfiem  of  pclitks  delivered  in  the  ex- 
ample of  a  great  prince,  muft  fhew  him  in  every 
public  occurrence  of  lite.  Hence  iEneas  was, 
of  necefTity,  to  be  found  voyaging,  with  UlyfTes, 
and  fighting,  with  Achilles. 

But  if  the  improved  nature  of  his  fubje(5l  com- 
pelled him  to  depart  from  that  fimplicity  in  the 
fable,  which  A.riflotle,  and  his  befl  interpreter, 

'  Preface  to  the  Iliad  of  Homer, 

I  Boffu, 


Scd.  4.      of  Moses  demonjirated.         213 

BofTu,  find  fo  divine  in  Homer  ^  ;  he  gained  con- 
fiderable  advantages  by  it  in  other  circumftances 
of  the  compofition  :  for  now,  thofe  ornaments  and 
decorations,  for  whofe  infertion  the  critics  could 
give  no  other  reafons  than  to  raife  the  dignity  of 
the  poem,  become  ejfeniial  to  the  fubjed.  Thus 
the  choice  of  princes  and  heroes  for  his  perfon- 
ages,  which  were,  before,  only  ufed  to  grace  the 
fcene,  now  conllitute  the  nature  of  the  aftion ' : 
and  the  machinery  of  the  Gods,  and  their  inter- 
vention on  every  occafion,  which  was  to  create  the 
tnarvellous^  becomes,  in  this  improvement,  an  in- 
difpenfable  part  of  the  poem.  A  divine  interpo- 
fition  is  in  the  very  fpirit  of  ancient  legiOation  ; 
where,  we  fee,  the  principal  care  of  the  lawgiver 
was  to  pofTefs  the  people  with  the  full  belief  of  a 
providence.  This  is  the  true  reafon  of  fo  much 
machinery  in  the  jEneis  •,  for  which,  modern  cri- 
tics impeach  the  author's  judgment,  who,  in  a 
poem  written  in  the  refined  and  enlightened  age 
of  Rome  ^^  followed  the  marvellous  of  Homer  fo 
clofely.  An  excellent  writer,  fpeaking  of  Virgil 
in  this  view,  fays,  "  If  there  be  any  inflance  in  the 

^  Nous  ne  trouverons  point,  dans  la  fable  de  VEneide,  ceite 
fimplicke  qu' Ariofto  a  trouvce  fi  divine  dans  Homere.  Trait i 
du  pceme  epique,  lib.  i.  cap.  xi 

*  —  "  Le  retour  (fays  Boffii)  d'un  homme  en  fa  maifon,  & 
**  la  querelle  de  deux  autres,  n'ayant  rien  de  grand  en  foi,  de- 
"  viennent  des  aftions  illullres  &  importantes,  lorfque  dans  le 
"  choix  des  noms,  le  poete  dit  que  c'ell  I'UlylTe  qui  retourne 
'*  en  Ithaque,  &  que  c'ell  Achille  &  Agamemnon  qui  querel- 
"  lent." — He  goes  on,  "  Mais  il  ya  des  a<rtions  qui  d'elles 
**  memes  font  tres  importantes,  comma  PiPohajfcTnent,  ou  la 
"  ruitie  (Tun  etat,  on  (Tune  religion.  Telle  ell  done  Taftion  de 
"  I'Eneide."  lib.  ii.  cap.  19  He  favv  here  a  remarkable  dif- 
ference in  the  fubjefts ;  it  is  ftrangc  this  Ihould  not  have  led 
him  to  fee  that  the  ^Eneis  is  of  a  ditFerent  fpecies. 

•"  Ce  qui  elt  beau  dans  Homere  pourroit  avoir  e'te  mal  re^u 
dans  les  ouvrages  d'un  poete  du  terns  d'Augufte.  Idem,  lib.  iii. 
cap.  8.  De  I'admivuhk, 

P  3  "  Mndd. 


214  ^^^  Divine  Legation    Book  II. 

"  jEneid  liable  to  exception  upon  this  account,  it 
"  is  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  book,  where 
•'  iEneas  is  reprefented  as  tearing  up  the  .iiyrtle 
*'  that  dropped  blood.  This  circumflance  feems 
"**  to  have  the  marvellous  without  the  probable, 
^'  becaufe  it  is  reprefented  as  proceeding  from  na- 
*'  tural  caufes  without  the  interpofition  of  any 
**  God,  or  rather,  fupernatural  power  capable  of 
"  producing  it".''  But  furely  this  inftance  was  ill 
chofen.     The  poet  mal:es  .Sneas  fay,  on  this  oc- 

*  Nymphas  venerabar  agreftes, 
Gradivumque  pati  em,  Geticis  qui  pr^efidet  arvis. 
Rite  fecundarent  vifus  oMENque  levarcnt°. 
Now  cmeJis  were  of  two  kinds  p,  the  natural  and 
fupernatural.  This  in  quellion,  was  of  the  latter 
fort,  produced  by  the  intervention  of  the  Gods,  as 
appears  by  his  calling  this  adventure,  monstra 

"  Mr.  Addifon's  ^W/,  vol.  iii.  p.  316.  quarto  edit.  1721, 
°  Lib.  iii. 

P  Ulyfles,  in  Homer,  mentions  both  thefe  forts  in  the  fol- 
lowing lines, 

Ziv  'sra.Ti^,  ei    j%'  — ■ 

The  word  omen  in  its  proper  fenfe  fignifics  futures  re'i  Jignum^ 
^uod  ex  fa  mone  Icqitentis  capitur.  TuIIy  fays,  lib.  i.  Divin^ 
*'  Pythagorei  non  folum  voces  deoruni  obfervarunt,  fed  etian> 
"  hominum,  quae  vocant  omina."  This  fort  of  omen  was 
fuppofed  to  depend  much  upon  the  will  of  the  perfon  concern- 
ed in  the  event.  Hence  'he  phrafes  accepit  omen,  arripuit  omen. 
This,  as  we  fay,  was  its  firft  and  proper  figniiication.  It  was 
afterv/ard.s  applied  to  things,  as  v/ell  as  ixiordi.  So  Paterculus 
fpeakingof  the  head  of  Sulpicius  on  the  roftrum,  fays  it  was 
'le'ut  otncnimmuientis  prcjcripiionis.  And  Suetonius  of  Auguft- 
us :  *'  Aufpicia  qusedam  &  omina  pro  ceriifiimis  obfervabat. 
"  Si  mane  fibi  calceus  pcrperam,  ac  finifter  pro  dextero  indu- 
"  ceretur,  ut  dirum.'"  It-  was  ufed  ftill  in  a  larger  fenfe  tq 
fjgnify  an  augury,  as  by  Tully,  De  Diu.  lib.  i. 
Sic  aquila3  clarum  firmavit  Jupiter  oz^fw. 
And  laftly,  in  the  m.ofl:  geneiical  fenfe  of  all,  for  a  portent  or 
trtd^gy  in  general^  as  in  the  place  before  us. 

PEUM5 


Sed:.  4.     o/*  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrated.  215 

DEUM  :  it  was  of  the  fpecics  of  thofe  portentous 
/bowers  of  blood  fo  frequently  occurring  in  the  ro- 
man  hiftory.  And  the  poet  was  certainly  within 
the  bounds  of  the  probable,  while  he  told  no  more 
than  what  their  graveft  writers  did  not  fcruple  to 
record  in  their  annals. 

But  this  was  not  done  merely  to  raile  admira- 
tion. He  is  here  (we  obferve)  in  his  legidative 
capacity  ;  and  writes  to  poflefs  the  people  of  the 
interpofition  of  the  Gods,  in  omens  and  prodi- 
gies ;  on  which  account  yEneas  is  conftantly  called 
Pius,  except  where  the  appellation  had  been  down- 
right ridiculous :  As  Turnus,  who  is  contrafted  to 
him,  is  marked,  on  his  firft  appearance,  by  his  ir- 
reverence to  the  prieftefs  or  Juno.  This  was  the 
method  of  the  old  lav/givers.  So  Plutarch,  as 
quoted  above,  tells  us,  "  that  with  divinations  and 
"  OMENS,  Lycurgus  fan6tihed  the  Lacedemonians, 
"  Numa  the  Romans,  Ion  the  Athenians,  and 
"  Deucalion  all  the  Greeks  in  general ;  and  by 
"  hopes  and  fears  kept  up  in  them  the  awe  and 
"  reverence  of  religion  *5."  The  fcene  of  this  ad- 
venture is  laid,  with  the  utmofl  propriety,  on  the 
uncivilized,  inhofpitable  (liores  of  Thrace,  to  in- 
fpire  horror  for  barbarous  manners,  and  an  appetite 
for  civil  policy  ^ 

^  ^ncas   having  urged  Dido  with   the  coinmand   of  tlie 
Gods  for  leaving  Carthage,  the  poet  makes  her,   in  rage  and 
defpair,  anfwer  his  pretence  with  the  following  fcofF  : 
Scilicet  is  Superis  labor  eil;   ea  cura  quietos 
SolHcitat —  Lib.iv. 

But  to  prevent  the  ill  cfFefls  of  thefe  Ej.ic7/reo.n  principles 
(very  properly  put  into  the  mouth  of  a  perfon  immerfed  in 
pleafure)  he  makes  the  impiety  preceded  by  her  own  ac- 
knowledgment that  file  was  agitated  by  the  Furies  : 

Heu  !   furiis  incenfa  feror  — 
And  the  more  forced  and  awkv.'ard  this  apology  appears  to  be, 
the  more  llrongly  has  the  poet  fhev/n  his  attention  to  his  end. 
■■  On  this  account  it  is  that  Virgil  here  deferts  the  mythologifts, 

^  P  4  But 


2\6  'The  Divine  Legation     Book  II, 

But  every  thing  in  this  poem  is  dire6led  to  great 
and  public  ends.  The  turning  the  fliips  into  fea- 
deities,  in  the  ninth  book,  has  Ibmething  in  it  in- 
,  finitely  more  extravagant,  than  the  myrtle  dropping 
bloody  and  has  been  more  generally  and  feverely 
cenfured  ;  and  indeed  mufl;  be  defended  on  other 
principles.  The  philofophic  commentators  of  Ho- 
mer's poem,  had  brought  the  fantailic  refinement 
of  allegory  into  great  vogue.  We  may  eftimate 
the  capacity  of  Virgil's  judgment  in  not  catching 
at  fo  alluring  a  bait,  by  obferving  that  lome  of  the 
greateft  of  the  modern  epic  poets,  who  approached 
nearefl  toVirgil  in  genius,  have  been  betrayed  by  it. 

9nd  makes  the  golden  age  the  age  of  civil  policy,  the  time  when 
men  were  firft  brought  out  of  a  ftate  of  nature. ThusEvander  fays, 
Haec  nemora  indigent  fauni  nymphasque  tenebant  — 
Quels  neque  mos,  neque  cultus  erat ;  neque  jungere  tauros, 
Aut  componere  opes  norant,  aut  parcere  parto  : 
JSed  rami  atque  afper  vidu  venatus  alebat. 
Primus  ab  jetherio  venit  Saturn  us  Olympo  — 
Is  genus  indocile,  ac  difperfum  montibus  altis, 

COMPOSUTT,    LEGESQJJE     DEDIT.  Lib.  viil. 

Whereas  Ovid,  who  fpeaks  the  fenfe  of  the  mythologies,  makes 
tht golc/en  age  to  be  that  which  went  before  civil  policy;  and 
Saturn  to  govern  in  that  which  Virgil  makes  to  precede  his 
reign. 

Aurea  prima  fata  eft  stas,  qus,  vindice  nuUo, 

Spontefua,  sine  lege  fidem  redlumque  colebat. 

Poena  metusque  aberant :  nec  verba  minacia  fixo 

^re  legebantur:  nec  fupplex  turba  timebant 

JuDicis  ora  fui.  — 

Jpfa  quoque  immunis  raftroque  inta6la,  nec  ullis 

Saucia  vomeribus,  per  fe  dabat  omnia  tellus ; 

Contentique  cibis  nullo  cogente  creatis, ' 

Arbuteos  foetus,  montanaque  fragra  legebant, 

Cornaque  &  in  duris  hserentia  mora  rubetis, 

Et  quse  deciderant  patula  Jovis  arbore  glandes. 

Ver  erat  sternum  ^ — 

Foftquam  S  a  t  u  r  n  o  tenebrofa  in  Tartara  mifib  — 

Turn  primum  fublere  domos  — 

Semina  turn  primum  longis  Cerealia  fulcls 

Ohruta  fuiitj  preffique  jugo  gemuere  juvenci. 

Metam,  lib.  i. 

Yet 


Se6l.  4»     0/ Moses  demonftraied,  217 

Yet  here  and  there,  our  poet,  to  convey  a  political 
precept,  has  employed  an  ingenious  allegory  in  paf- 
fing.  And  the  adventure  in  quellion  is,  J  think, 
of  this  number.  By  the  transformation  ot  the  fhips 
jinto  fea-deities,  he  vi'ould  infinuate,  I  fuppofe,  the 
great  advantages  of  cultivating  a  naval  power; 
fuch  as  extended  commerce,  and  the  dominion  of 
the  ocean  \  v^hich,  in  poetical  language,  is  becom- 
ing ^^r/'/zVi  of  the  fea. 

Mortalem  cripiam  formam,  magnique  jubebo 
iEquoris  efle  Deas — 
He  explains  the  allegory  more  clearly  in   the  fol- 
lowing book,  where  he   makes   thefe  transformed 
fea-nymphs  accompany  ^neas,  and  his  fleet  of  au- 
xiliaries, through  the  Tyrrhene  fca. 
Atque  illi  medio  in  fpatio  chorus,  ecce,  fuarum 
Occurrit  comitum  :  nymphs",  quas  alma  Cybele 
Numen  habere  maris,  nymiphasque  e  navibus  efle 
Jufferat  — 

Agnofcunt  longe  regem  luftrantquechoreis. 
As  the  not  taking  the  true  fcope  of  the  Mneis^ 
hath  occafioned  miftakes,  to  Virgil's  difadvantage, 
concerning  the  -plan  and  condiiEl  of  the  poem  •,  fo 
hath  it  likewife,  concerning  the  cho.ratiers.  The 
PIETY  of/Eneas,  and  his  high  veneration  for  the 
Gods,  fo  much  offends  a  celebrated  French  writer-, 
that  he  fays,  the  hero  was  fitter  to  found  a  religion  "^ 
than  a  monarchy.  He  did  not  know,  that  the 
image  of  a  perfefl  lawgiver  is  held  out  to  us  in 
TEneas :  and  had  he  knov/n  that,  he  had  perhaps 
been  ignorant,  that  it  was  the  office  of  fuch  a  one 
to  found  religions  and  colleges  of  priefls'',  as  well  as 

s  Monfieur  de  St.  Evremont. 
'i.e.  a  community  of  monks. 

losTOtovid^iij  ay&Sci/TEiE  A£t/;^a.Aiwsa, 
'Oc  OTpJre-  IJO.HIE  noAE.r,  y^  EAEIMATO  NII0Y2 


2i8  '    Tloe  Divine  Legation     Book  H 

flates  and  corporations.     And  Virgil  tells   us  this 
was  the  oilicecf  hishero, 

Dum  conderet  urbem, 
Inferretque  deos  Latio--- 
Bul  the  humanity  of  iEneas  offends  this  critic  as 
well  as  his  piety  ;  he  calls  him  a  mere  St.  Svvi- 
thin,  always  raining.  The  beauty  of  tiiat  circum- 
ftance  efcaped  him.  It  was  proper  to  reprefent  a 
perfect  lawgiver  as  quickly  touched  with  all  the 
affeflions  oi  humanity  :  and  the  example  was  the 
rather  to  be  inforced,  becaule  vOigar  politicians 
are  but  too  generally  fcen  diveiled  of  thefe  com- 
mon notices-,  and  the  habit  of  vulgar  heroifm  is 
apt  to  induce  pafiions  very  oppofite  to  them.  Thus 
Virgil  having  painted  Turnus  in  all  the  colours  of 
Achilles,  and  /Eneas  in  thole  of  Kedor  (for  the 
fubje(5t  of  the  Iliad  being  the  de(Lru6lion  of  a  vici- 
ous and  corrupt  community,  the  fttteft:  inftrument 
was  a  brutal  warrior,  acer^  iracundus^  fuch  as 
Achilles  J  and  the  fubjeft  of  the  yEneid  being  the 
eredion  of  a  great  and  virtuous  empire,  the  fit- 
tefl:  inib'ument  v/as  a  pious  patriot,  like  Hedlor,) 
Turnus,  I  fay,  was  to  be  charadlerifed  as  one  de- 
lishtincji;  in  blood  and  flauo-hrer. 

Sjevit  amor  ferri,  &  scelerata  infania  belli, 

Ira  luper  ^^■--- 
And,  to  make  this  paffion  the  more  deteftabley  the 
Poet  tells  us  it  was  infpired  into  him  by  a  Fury. 
But  when  he  reprefents  ^Encas  as  accepting  the 
tavourable  figns  from  Heaven,  which  puflied  him  on 
to  war,  he  draws  him,  agreeable  to  fuch  a  character, 
compaffionating  tlie  miferies  which  his  very  enemies, 
by  their  breach  of  faith,  were  to  fuffer  in  it. 

Heu,  quantre  jviiferis  c;=edes  I.aurentibus    inilant! 

Quis  pcen\s   mini,  l\irnc,  dabis'    quam     multa 


p?r  ..:).!:■  ^ 


',6i. 

Scuta 


Se(S.  4.     o/*  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrated,  2 1 9 

Scuta  virum,  galeasque,&fortIa  corpora  volves, 
Tibri pater!  pofcant  acies,  &  foederarumpant". 
Nor  is  the  view,  in  which  we  place  this  poem, 
lefs  ferviceable  to  the  vindication  of  the  Poet's 
other  charadlers.  The  learned  author  of  th^  Enquhy 
into  the  life  and  writings  of  Horner^  will  torgive  me 
for  differing  from  him,  in  thinking  that  that  uni- 
formity of  manners  in  the  Mneis^  which  he  fpeaks 
of,  was  the  effeftof  defign,  not,  as  he  would  have 
it,  of  cuflom  and  habit :  "  Virgil,  fays  he,  had 
"  feen  much  of  the  fplendor  of  a  court,  the  mag- 
"  nificence  of  a  palace,  and  the  grandeur  ot  a 
*'  royal  equipage  :  accordingly  his  reprefentations 
*'  of  that  part  of  life,  are  more  auguft  and  {lately 
"  than  Homer's.  He  has  a  greater  regard  to  de- 
"  cency,  and  thofe  polifhed  manners,  that  render 
*'  men  fo  much  of  a  piece,  and  make  them  all  re- 
"  femble  one  another  in  their  condud:  and  behavi- 
'*  our  y."  For  the  ^Eneis  being  a  fyftem  of  poli- 
tics, what  this  v/riter  calls  the  eternity  of  a  govern- 
ment ^the  form  of  a  magiftrature,  and  plan  of  dominion^ 
mull  needs  be  familiar  with  the  Roman  poet ;  and 
nothing  could  be  niore  to  his  purpofe,  than  a  re- 
prefentation  of  polifhed  manners  •,  it  being  the  legif- 
lator's  office  to  tame  and  break  men  to  humanity; 
and  to  make  them  difguife,  at  lead,  if  they  cannot 
be  brought  to  lay  afide,  their  favage  manners. 

But  this  key  to  the  ALneis  not  only  clears  up  a 
great  many  paffages  obnoxious  to  the  critics  %  but 

^  Lib.viii.  }?•  537.  y  Page  325. 

''■  M.  Voltaire  fays, 

Virgile  orne  mieux  la  raifon, 
A  plus  d'art,  autant  d'harmonie  j 
Mais  il  s'epuife  avec  Didon, 

Et  rate  a  la  fin  Lavinie.  Stances  fur  les  poftes  ep. 

But  the  epifode  of  Dido  and  ^neas  was  given  not  to  ornament 
his  poem  with  the  defcription  of  a  love  adventure,  but  to  flievv 
I  he  public  milchiefs  of  a  prince's  indulging  this  Vv'eahnefs  : 

adds 


2  20  T^he  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

adds  an  infinite  beauty  to  a  vaft  number  of  inci- 
dents throughout  the  whole  poem ;  of  v/hich  take 
the  following  inftances,  the  one,  in  religioHy  and 
the  other,  in  civil  policy. 

I.  iEneas,  in  the  eighth  book,  goes  to  the  court 
of  Evander,  in  order  to  engage  him  in  a  confede- 
racy againft  the  common  enemy.  He  finds  the 
king  and  his  people  bufied  in  the  celebration  of  an 
annual  facrifice.  The  purpofe  of  the  voyage  is 
difpatched  in  a  few  lines,  and  the  whole  epifodc 
is  employed  in  a  matter  altogether  foreign  to  it, 
that  is  to  fay,  the  facrifice,  the  feaft,  and.  a  long 
hiflory  of  Hercules's  adventure  v/ith  Cacus.  But 
it  is  done  with  great  art  and  propriety  \  and  in  or- 
der to  introduce,  into  this  political  poem,  that 
famous  inflitute  of  Cicero,  (in  his  book  Of  laws) 
defigned  to  moderate  the  excefs  of  labouring  fu- 
perftition,  the  igmt<£  ceremonia.^  as  he  calls  them, 
which  at  that  time  fo  much  abounded  in  Rome — 
"  Divos  &  eos,  qui  coeleftes  femper  habiti,  colun- 

"    to,    &   olios,    QUOS    ENDO    COELO    MERITA    VO- 

"  CAVERINT,  Herculem,  Libctum,  iEfculapi- 
*'  um,  Caftorem,  PoUucem,  Quirinum  " — Thus 
copied  by  Virgil,  in  the  beginning  of  Evander's 
fpeech  to  yEneas. 
Rex  Evandrus  ait :  Non  hsec  folemnia  nobis. 
Has  ex  more  dapes,  hanc  tanti  numinis  aram 
Van  A  supERSTiTio  veterumque  ignara  deorum 
Impofuit.     Scsvis.,  hofpes  Trojane,  periclis 

»—  regnorum  immemores,  turpique  cupldine  captos. 
The  poet  therefore  had  defeated  his  own  defign,  if,  when  he 
had  recovered  his  hero  from  this  weaknefs,  made  him  fay  of 
his  deftined  empire  in  Italy, 

—  hie  amor,  hasc  patria  efi:  — 
perfe£led  his  character,  aqd  brought  him  to  the  end  of  his  la- 
bours, he  had  ftill  drawn  him  flruggling  with  this  impotent  and 
unruly  paffion. 

Servati 


SedJ:.  4'     of  Moses  demoftftraied.  221 

Servati  facimus,  meritoscute  novamiis  honores— 
A  leflbn  of  great  importance  to  the  pagan  lawgiver. 
This  fuperjiitio  ignara  veierum  deorum  was,  as   we 
have  Ihevvn,  a  matter  he  took  much  care  to  redify 
in  the  myjleries;  not   by  deftroying  that  fpecies  of 
idolatry,  the  worfhip  of  dead  men,  which  was  in- 
deed his  own  invention,  but  by  fhewing  why  they 
paid  that  worHiip-,  namely,  for  benefits  done  by  thofe 
deified  heroes  to  the  whole  race  of  mankind. 
Quareagite,   ojuvenes!  t  ant  arum  in  munere  lau- 
dirmy  &c. 
The  conclufion  of  Evander's  fpeech, 
CoMMUNEMQUE    vocATE    DEUM,    &   date  vina 
volentes, 
alludes  to  that  other  initit.ute  of  Cicero,  in  the  fame 
book  Of  Laws.  "  Separatim  nemo  habeffitDeos: 
*'  neve  Novos,  neve  advenas,  nifi  publice  adfcitos, 
f'  privaTim  colunto."      Of  which    he  gives  the 
reafon  in  his   comment,  "  fuosque  Deos,  aut  No- 
"  vos   aut  Alienigenas   coli,    confufionem    habet 
*' religionum,  &   ignotas  ceremonias. 

Nor  fhould  weomit  to  obferve  a  further  beauty  in 
thisepilbde;  and  in  imitation,  dill,  ofCicdro-,  who,  in 
his  book  Of  Laws.,  hath  taken  tht  beft  of  the  Pv.oman 
infl"itutes  for  the  foundation  of  his  fy  ftem ;  for  tiie  wor- 
fliip  ot  Hercules,  as  introduced  by  Evander,and  ad- 
miniftred  by  thePoTiTii  onthe  altar  called  the  ara 
M  Axir^  AjWas,  as  Dion.  Hal.  and  Li  vy  tell  us,  the  oldell 
eftabliflimenc  in  Rome;  and  continued  for  many  ages 
in  high  veneration.  To  this  the  following  lines  allude, 
Hanc  a-ram  luco  ftatuir,  quse  maxima  femper  &c. 
— Jamque  facerdotes,  primusque  Polilius.,  ibant. 
But  Virgil  was  fo  learned  in  all  that  concerned  the 
Roman  ritual,  that  it  was  a  common  %ing,  (as  we 
coUcdl  from  Macrobius)  Virgilius  nofier Pontifex  ma- 
ximus  videtur:  And  that  writer  not  apprehending  the 
reafon  of  fo  exaft  an  attention  to  facred  things, 
b^ingignQrant  of  the  nature  of  the  poem,  fays,  mi- 

P    3  RAKDUM 


222  ^he    Divine  Legatiofi     Book  II. 

rand  urn  eft  hujus  poetse  et  circa  noftra  et  circa  ex- 
terna facra  doftrinam*. 

2.  In  the  ninth  book  we  have  the  fine  epifode 
of  Nifus  and  Euryalus ;  which  prefents  us  with 
many  new  graces,  when  confidered  (as  it  ought  to 
be)  as  a  reprefentation  of  one  of  the  moft  famous 
and  fmgular  of  the  Grecian  inftitutions.  Crete, 
that  ancient  and  celebrated  fchool  of  legiflation, 
had  a  civil  cuftom,  which  the  Spartans  firH,  and  af- 
terwards all  the  principal  cities  oi  Greece  ^  borrowed 

*  Satur.  I.  iii.  c.  6. 
*  The  Etrufci  feem  to  have  had  the  fame  cuftom,  in  which 
the  public  repofed  its  laft  confidence.  Livy  tells  us,  that  in  the 
444'"  year  of  Rome,  when  the  affairs  of  this  people  were 
grown  defperate  by  the  repeated  defeats  of  their  armies,  they 
had  recourfe  to  the  lex  facra,  as  their  laft  refuge.     Of  which 

the  hiftorian  gives  this  fuccinft  and  obfcure  account, "  ad 

"  Vadimoniis  lacum  Etrui'ci  lege  facrata  coadto  exercitu,  quum 
"  'vir  njinmi  legijjet,  quantis  nunquarn  alias  ante  fimul  copiis, 
"  fimul  ammis  dimicarunt,"  &:c.  lib.  ix.  The  commentators 
are  at  a  lofs  for  the  meaning  of  xhhfacred la^M,  in  raifnig  an  ar- 
jny  wjjiere  every  foldier  V'/as  to  chufe  his  fellow.  I  certainly 
think  it  to  be  the  inititution  in  queftion :  the  Etrufci  were 
defccnded  from  the  Pelafgi,  and  had  afterwards  civilized  and 
poliflied  themfelves  by  Grecian  cuftoms,  as  one  may  well  fup- 
pofe  from  the  charailer  Livy  gives  of  them  in  this  book--- 
*'  Caere  educatus  apud  hofpites,  Etrufcis  inde  Uteris  eruditus 
"  erat:  -— habet  autores,  vulgo  turn  Romanos  pueros,  f:cut 
"  nunc  Gra;cis,  ita  Etrufcis  Uteris  erudiri  folitos.'''  But,  in 
general,  the  giving  a  traditive  original  even  to  the  moft  cha- 
raderiftic  cuftoms,  is  very  fallacious.  Mahomet,  who  cer- 
tainly did  not  BORROW  from  the  ancient  Grecian  praflices, 
yet  eftablilhed  the  fanie  kind  of  frateraity  amongft  his  followers, 
in  the  firft  year  of  the  Kegira.  See  Abul-feda,  De  'vita  Ma- 
bo7iimedh,  cap.  26.  init.  De  fraternltatc  injlitiita  inter  MoJIcmos., 
And  what  is  ftill  more  extraordinary,  the  MilTionaries  aflure  us, 
that  it  is  one  of  the  moft  facred  inftitutions  amongft  the  warrior- 
nations  of  the  free  people  in  North  America.  Which,  becau.<e 
itfoexaftly  refemble-  the  Grecian,  in  all  its  circumftances,  I 
ftall  give,  as  I  fmd  it  defcribed  by  one  of  their  heft  v/riters. 
•'  Chacun  parnii  eux  a  un  ami  a  peu  pres  de  fon  age,  auquel 
"  il  s'attache,  et  qui  s'attachea  lui  par  des  liens  indilfolubles. 
"  Deux  hommes  ainfi  unis  pour  leur  interet  commun,  doivent 
♦•  tout  faire&  tout  rifquer  pom- s'entr'aider,  &  fe  fecourir  mu- 
"  tucUcmcnt :  la  mort  mcjne,  a  cc  qnils  croyent,  ne  les  fepare  que 
"  pczir  un  talis  :    ils  cor.pcnt  Ucn  de  fe  rejoindre  dans  l" autre  jnonde 

from 


Se£l.  4.     of  Moses  demonflrated.  223 

from  them,  for  every  man  of  diflingiiifhed  valour 
or  wifdom  to  adopt  a  favourite  youth,  for  whofe 
education  he  was  anfvverable,  and  whofe  manners 
he  had  the  care  of  forming.  Hence  Nifus  is  faid 
to  be 

ACERRIMUS    ARMIS, 

Hyrtacides ; 

And  Euryalus, 

Comes  Euryalus,  quo  pulchrior  alter 

NonfuitijEneadum,  Trojananeque  induit  arma  ; 

Ora  puER  prima  fignans  intonsa  juventa. 
The  lovers  (as  they  were  called)  and  their  youths 
always  ferved  and  fought  together ;  —  fo  \lrgil 
of  thefe : 

His  amor  unus  erat,  pariterque  in  bella  ruebant. 

Turn  quoque  communi  portam  flatione  tenebant. 
The  lovers  ufed  to  make  prefents  to  their  favourite 
youths So  Nifus  tells  his  friend  : 

Si,  TiBi,  qu^  posco  promittunt  (nam  mihi  fafti 

Fama  fat  eft)  &c. 
The  ftates  of  Greece,  where  this  inftitution  prevail- 
ed, reaped  fo  many  advantages  from  it,  that  they 
gave  it  the  greateft  encouragement  by  their  Jaws  : 
fo  that  Cicero,  in  his  book  Of  a  republic^  obferv- 
ed,  "  opprobrio  fuilTe  adolefcentibus  fi  amatores 
"  non  haberent  r  "  Virgil  has  been  equally  intent 
to  recommend  it  by  all  the  charms  of  poetry  and 

"  pur  nc  Jl  plus  quitter,  perfuade's  qu'ils  y  auront  encore  be- 
"  loin  Tun  de  I'autre. —  On  ajoute,  que  ces  amis,  quand  ih 
*'  fe  trouvent  eloir.nes  les  uns  des  autres,  s'invoquent  reciprc- 
*'  quement  dans  ies  perils,  ou  ils  le  recontrent  ;  ce  qu'il  fauc 
**  fansdoute  entendre  de  leurs  genies  tutelaires.  Lt:s  pre  fens 
"  font  Ls  ijoeuds  de  ces  ^Jfod.'tions,  Tinteret  &  le  befoin  les  for- 
*'  tifient ;  c'eft  un  fecours  fur  lequel  on  peu'c  pvefque  toujours 
"  compter,  ^lelqucs  uns  pr£tcnilc?:t  qu'ils  s'y  pUjj'e  du  de/ordre  j 
•'  mais  j'aifujetde  croire  qii'au  moiens  cela  n'efl:  pas  general." 
'Journal  (Tun  voyage  dans  C Amtrlque  Sfptentrionule  par  le  P .  de 
Charli'vcix,  tome  vi.  p.  14, 

3  ■  elo- 


224  ^^^  Divine  hegaiton     Book  11. 

eloquence.  The  amiable  charafter,  the  afFefting 
circLimllance,  the  tendernefs  of  diftrefs,  ai-e  all 
inimitably  painted. 

I'he  youth  fo  educated,  were  found  to  be  the 
bed  bulwark  of  their  country,  and  moft  formida- 
ble to  the  enemies  of  civil  liberty.     On  which  ac- 
count, the  Tyrants,  wherever  they  prevailed,  ufed 
all  their  arts  to  fupprefs  an  inftitution  fo  oppofite 
to  private  intereft  and  ambition.  The  annals  of  an- 
cient Greece  afford  many  examples  of  the  bravery 
of  thefe  bands,  who  chearfully  attempted  the  moA; 
Iiazardous  adventures.    So  that  Virgil  did  but  fol- 
low hiitory  when  he  put  thefe  two  friends  on  one 
of  the  moft  daring  actions  of  the  whole  war  j  as 
old  Aletes  undcrft'ood  it : 
Dipatrii,  quorum  femper  fub  numine  Troja  eft, 
Non  tamen  omnino  Tcucros  delere  paratis, 
Cum  tales  animosjuvenum,  &tam  certa  tuliftis 
Pedora. 

Plutarch,  fpeaking  of  tlie  Thebans,  in  the  Life 
cf  Pelopidas,  fays,  that  "  Gorgias  firft  enrolled 
"  the  faci^ed  band,  confifting  of  three  hundred 
"  chofen  men  •,  and  that  this  corpfe  was  faid  to  be 
*'  compofed  of  lovers  and  their  friends.  It 
"  is  reported,  fays  he,  that  it  continued  uncon- 
"  quered  till  the  battle  of  Cha:ronea  ;  and  when, 
"  after  that  aftion,  Philip  was  furveying  the  dead, 
*'  and  came  to  the  very  fpot  where  thefe  three 
'•'■  hundred  fell,  who  had  charged  in  clofe  order 
"  fo  fatally  on  the  Macedonian  lances,  and  ob- 
"  ferved  how  they  lay  heaped  upon  one  another, 
"  he  was  amazed,  and  being  told,  that  this  was 
"  the  band  oi  lovers  and  thc'w  friends,  he  burft  in- 
"  to  tears,  and  faid,  Accurfed  be  they  who  can  fu- 
"  fpetf  that  thefe  men  either  did  cr  fi'.ffered  any  thing 
"  difljcneft.  But  certainly  (continues  my  author) 
"  this  inftitution  of  lovers  did  not  arife  in  Thebes, 

as 


Se£l.  4*     <?/"  Moses  demonjlrated.  225 

*'  as  the  poets  imagined,  from  the  passion  of 
"  Laius,^but  from  the  v/isdom  oi'Legiflators''." 
Such  was  the  friendfliip  our  poet  would  here  repre- 
fent,  where  he  fays, 

Nifus  AMORE  pio  pueri — 
and  where  he  makes  Afcanius  call  Euryahis, 

Venerande  puer— . 
The  one  dies  in  defence  of  the  other;  revenges  his 
death;  and  then  falls  with  him,  like  the  lovers  in 
the  SACRED  band: 

moriens  animam  abftulit  hofti. 
Tum  fuper  exanimem  fefe  projecit  amicum 
ConfofTus,  placidaque  ibi  demum  morte  quievit. 
And  here  let  it  be  obferved,  that,  as  this  epifode  is 
given  for  a  pi6lure  of  this  Inftitution  in  it's  purity  -, 
io,  in  the  Enemies'  quarter,  he  hath  given  another 
drawing  of  it,  in  it's  degeneracy  and  corruption. 
— Tu  quoque  flaventem  prima  lanugine  malas 
Dum  fequeris  Clytium  infelix,  nova  gaudia  Cydon 
Dardania  ftratus  dextra  fecurus  amorum 
Qui  juvenum  tibi  femper  erant,  miferande  jaceres*. 
The  poec  hath  obferved  the  fame  condudl,  as  we 
fhall  fee  hereafter,  with  regard  to  the  pure  and  the 
corrupt  Myfleries. 

Before  I  leave  thefe  previous  circumftances,  permit 
me  only  to  take  notice,  that  this  v/as  xhtfecond /pedes  of 
theepicpoem ;  our  own  country-man,  Milton,  having 
produced  the  third:  for  juftas  Virgil  rivaled  Homer, 
lb  Milton,  emulated  both  of  them.  He  found  Homer 

Tom  cS  legoK  A6;^o»,  ui  (pacriv,  awtld^cclo  Fopyi^*;  ot^wto^,  c^  dv  ■ 
Cfuv  o7nX5xiwv  T^ucxoaim,  —  £Ho»  h  Qcccri.'  ^  l^xrS'j  t^  ipuyJiiuv  '^t- 
^cr.i  TO  c-vrn[A.ct.  TaTo. — hiydoLi  ^\  ^Si^^yaXtoc^  f^sp^gi  T-/i;  ek  Xai^wvEia  «,»'- 
j^ij?  dri'/lrfioii'  ui  oi  f^ilcc  rriv  fJi,a,^(ltjJ  i(po^cai>  t«5  tsicfyi  o  <I>i?i(~7r(^.  t'ri) 
xoio.  THTo  TO  ^wptJi/,  ill  d)  avvtivf^avE  x-iT^ui  TS^  Tf i«;i^,o-iK;  tva-iliu; 
a7iLu\Y,K0T<x.z  TccTq  craptw«K  uTrcivluq  h  Tor^  s'^fot'i  oTrAci?;   >^  fAel'  <«A^'^- 

i^ui/Jvaii  CMT  tin  Ao%<^  ^ax^vaui,  y^  i.'jTihy  'A7ro?;oi>1o  xaxxi  ol  rara; 
T»  tiJojEri'  ■/)  'S7dap(^nv  ula^flv  Jwoyoavle?.  "o^wj  oi  tjJj  ■tsfe*  rac  lpu.rds  crvyr,- 
6ci«f,  a%  uinrig  ol  -nronjla*  T^iyao'i,  ©/,(;a;ctj  to  Aaia  ■roaS®-  ^'fPi*"  "^^g" 
ie-x^t,  a'M  cl  NOMO0ETAI.    Voi.ii.  p.  21  g,  219.  Biianred.    , 
*  L.  X.  ;>  324. 

Vol.  I.  Ci^  pofTefTed 


226  'The  Divine  Legation        Book  IL 

pofleiTed  of  the  province  of  Morality  ;  Virgil,  o^  Po- 
litics -,  and  nothing  left  for  him,  but  that  q^  Religion. 
This  he  feized,  as  ambitious  to  lliare  with  them  in 
the  government  of  the  poetic  world  :  and  by  means 
of  the  fuperior  dignity  of  hisfubjed,  hath  gotten  to 
the  head  of  that  Triumvirate  which  took  fo  many 
ages  in  forming.  Thefe  are  t\\t  three fpecieso^  the  Epic 
poem^  for  its  largcft  fphere  is  human  action;  which 
can  be  only  confidered  in  a  morale  a  political,  or  reli- 
gious Viz^-^:  and  thefe  the  three  great  makers-,  for 
each  of  theirpcems  wasftruck  out  at  a  heat,  and  came 
to  perfedion  from  its  firft  elfay.  Here  then  the 
grand  fcene  was  doled  ;  and  all  further  improve- 
ments of  the  Epic  at  an  end. 

It  being  now  underflood,  that  the  ^ners  is  in  the 
ftyle  of  ancient  legiflation,  it  v/cuid  be  hard  to  think 
that  fo  great  a  mailer  in  his  art,  fhould  overlook  a 
DOCTRINE,  which,  we  have  fhewn,  was  the  foun- 
dation and  fupport  ot  ancient  politics ;  namely  a  fu- 
ture Jtate  of  ?'eiuards  a'dd purajhments.  Accordingly  he 
hath  given  us  a  complete  fyfLcni  of  it,  in  imitation 
of  his  models,  which  were  Plato's  vijicn  of  Ems  ^  and 
Tully's  dreardof  Scipio.  Again,  as  thcLavv giver  took 
care  to  fupport  this  Do 5irine  by  a  very  extraordinary 
Inftitution,  and  to  commemorate  it  by  a  rite,  Vvhich 
had  all  the  allurement  of  fpectacle;  and  afforded 
matter  for  the  utmoft  embcliifnments  of  poetry,  we 
cannot  but  confefs  adefcripticn  of  fuch  aScene  would 
add  largely  to  the  grace  and  elegance  of  his  work  j 
and  mull  concliide  he  would  be  invited  to  attempt  it. 
Accordingly,  we  fay,  he  hath  done  this  Ukev/ile, 
in  the  allege  rical  defcent  of  yEneas  into  Hell;  which 
is  no   other  tlian  an    enigmatical  reprefentation  of 

his  INITIATION  INTO  THE  MYSTERIES. 

Virgil  was  to  reprefent  a  perfed:  lawgiver,  in 
the  perlbn  of  -Sneas  •,  now,  initiation  into  the  My- 
fleries  v/as  what  fan6tified  his  charader  and  enobled 
his  function.     Hence  v;e  find  all  the  ancient  heroes 

and 


Sedt.  4*     of  Most s  demofift?'ated.  227 

and  lawgivers  were,  in  fa6l,  initiated''.  And  it  was 
no  wonder  the  legiQator  fhould  endeavour  by  his 
example  to  give  credit  to  an  inftitution  of  his  own 
creating. 

Another  reafon  for  the  hero's  initiation,  was  the 
important  inftru6tions  he  received  in  matters  that 
concerned  his  office '',  as  we  may  fee  in  the  fecond 
fedlion  of  the  third  book. 

A  third  reafon  for  his  initiation,  was  the  cufbom 
of  feeking  fupport  and  infpiration  from  the  God 
•who  prefided  in  the  myfteries  ^. 

A  fourth  reafon  for  his  initiation,  was  the  cir- 
cumftance  in  which  the  poet  has  placed  him,  un- 
fettled  in  his  affairs,  and  anxious  about  his  future 
fortune.  Now,  amongft  the  ufes  of  initiation,  the  ad- 
vice and  dire6lion  of  the  oracle  was  not  the  leaft. 
And  an  oracular  bureau  was  fo  neceflary  an  ap- 
pendix to  fome  of  the  myfleries,  as  particularly  ths 
Samothracian^  that  Plutarch,  fpeaking  of  Lyfander's 
initiation  there,  exprefies  it  by  a  word  that  figni- 
fies  conjulting  the  oracle^  'Ev  q  1.a\/.o^coiv.Vi  z^^^^'^°^~ 
tofxsv@^-i  &c.  on  this  account,  Jafon,  Orpheus,  Her- 
cules, Caftor,  and  (as  Macrobius  fays ' )  Tarqui- 
nius  Prifcus,  were  every  one  of  them  initiated  into 
thofe  myfteries. 

Homeri  Fragm.   lijnni.  in  Cer.  apud  Pauf.  Corhth, 

^ly^iuvctq   exvlbf  m;  ruv  i/.-j~r,^iuv  xoiva;vr,(ra.vla.q'    cfio  Xj"  tu"  af^a'tt* 
Ts^E]?;'   yCf  yd^'lpic/i^vix.  Kj  ^I'-jC'y.Hfii',  tVi  ^' 'Hfa;i?  set  k^ 'Oflp/a  fivr,- 

^xviixy.     Diod.  p.  224, 

'  Lib.  iii.  cap.  4. 

f  The  rhetor  Sopater,  in  his  Aj-cjp^Veij  ^r^^r.^^druv,  makes  Pe- 
ricles fay,   YliTivu  T«r?  ii  '^'^iV(jTn  ^iuTi;,  tStov  jxoi  oitCiQr,Ki>cn  tilt 

tUf,    kJ  TO   rgaV/y'JM-a  TKT9   C^    atX^lo-U)   ^«>«»  TWfftUfl.vJ*. 

(^  2  All 


228  T'he  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

All  this  the  poet  feems  clearly  to  have  intimat- 
ed in  the  fpeech  of  Anchifes  to  his  fon  : 

Ledos  juvenesfortifiimacorda, 
Defer  in  Italiam — Gens  dura  atque  afpera  cultu 
Debellanda  tihi  Latio  eft.     Ditis  tamen  ante 
,    Infernas  accede  domos  — 

Turn  genus  omne  tuum,   &,  qiu-e  dentur  mcenia 

DISCES^. 

A  fifth  reafon  was  the  conforming  to  the  old 
popular  tradition,  which  faid,  that  feveral  other 
heroes  of  the  Trojan  times,  fuch  as  Agamemnon 
and  Ulyfies,  had  been  initiated  ^. 

A  fixth  and  principal  was,  that  Augustus, 
who  was  fliadowed  in  the  perfon  of  iEneas,  had 
been  initiated  into  the  Eleusinian  myfterks\ 

.  While  the  Myfteries  were  confined  to  Egypt, 
their  native  country,  and  while  the  Grecian  law- 
givers went  thither  to  be  initiated,  as  a  kind  of  de- 
fignation  to  their  office,  the  ceremony  v/ould  be 
naturally  defcribed,  in  terms  highly  allegorical. 
This  was,  in  part,  owing  to  the  genius  of  the  Egy- 
ptian manners  j  in  part,  to  the  humour  of  travel- 
lers ;  but  moft  of  all,  to  the  policy  of  lav/givers  -, 
who,  returning  home,  to  civilize  a  barbarous  people, 
by  laws  and  arts,  found  it  ufeful  and  neceffary  (in 
order  to  fupport  their  own  characters,  and  to  efca- 
blifli  the  fundamental  principle  of  a  future  ftate)  to 
reprefent  that  initiation,  in  which,  they  faw  the 
flate  of  departed  mortals  in  machinery,  as  an  ac- 
tual defcent  into  hell.     This  way  of  fpeaking  was 

P  JEn.  V.  J!  729,  &  feq. 

cii^vu)  u'^i  rumiccc.  Scholia  Apollon.  Rhod.  Jrg.  lib.  i.  :^  gi6. 
'Suet.  Oi'?.  cap.  xciii. 

ufed 


SqOl.  4.     o/'  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrated.  229 

ufed  by  Orpheus,  Bacchus,  and  others  -,  and  con- 
tinued even  after  the  myileries  were  introduced  in- 
to Greece,  as  appears  by  the  fables  of  Hercules, 
Caftor,  Pollux,  and  Thefeus's  defcentinto  hell.  But 
the  allegory  was  generally  'io  circumftanced,  as  to 
difcover  the  truth  concealed  under  it.  So  Orpheus 
is  faid  to  get  to  hell  by  the  power  of  his  harp  : 

Threicia  fretus  cithara,  fidibusque  canoris : 
that  is,  in  quality  of  lawgiver  •,  the  harp  being  the 
known  fymbol  of  his  laws,  by  which  he  humanized 
a  rude  and  barbarous  people.  So  again,  in  the  lives 
of  Hercules  and  Bacchus,  we  have  the  true  hiflory, 
and  the  fable  founded  on  it,  blended  and  recorded 
together.  For  we  are  told,  that  they  were  in  fa6l  in- 
itiated into  the  Eleuftnian  myfteries ;  and  that  it  was 
juft  before  their  defcent  into  hell,  as  an  aid  and  fe- 
curity  in  that  defperate  undertaking''.  Which,  in 
plain  fpeech,  was  no  more,  than  that  they  could 
not  fafely  fee  the  Jljews^  till  they  had  been  initiat- 
ed. The  fame  may  be  faid  of  what  is  told  us  of 
Thefeus's  adventuie.  Near  Eleufis  there  was  a 
Well,  called  Callichorus  •,  and,  adjoining  to  that, 
a  SfonCy  on  which,  as  the  trad.tion  went,  Ceres  fat 
down,  fad  and  weary,  on  her  coming  to  Eleufis. 
Hence  the  ftone  was  named  Agelaflus,  the  melan- 
choly Ji  one  ^.  On  which  account  it  was  deemed 
unlawful  for  the  initiated  to  (it  thereon.  "  For 
"  Ceres  (fays  Cle-r.ens)  wandering  about  in  fearch 
"  of  her  daughter  Proferpine,  when  Ihe  came  to 
"  Eleufis,  grew  weary,  and  fat  down  melancholy 
*'  on  the  fide  01  a  well.     So  that,  to  this  very 

^  —  Ka*  Tii-:  <Ep»  'l^fy^tXix  t  .'-^  AioVJTov,  xxl^!,v'ui  lU,  tzJa,  'm^o- 

T);7   t.'KvcTi'jla.^  ivuvcxc-jcci.      A'.ii'lor  Axiochi. 
'  'Ayi>xi~'-B^  tziT.'u..      So  (Jvid  : 

Hie  primum  fedic  gelido  inceililTima  faxo  ; 
iiliid  Ceci'opida;  nunc  qiiO.jae  triJU  vocant. 

Q  3  "  ^^y 


230  ^he  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

^'  day,  it  is  unlawful  for  the  initiated  to  fit  down 
"  there,  left  they,  who  are  now  become  perfe6t, 
"  fhould  feem  to  imitate  her  in  her  defolate  con- 
*'  dition "'."  Now  let  us  fee  what  they  tell  us 
concerning  Thefeus's  defcent  into  hell.  "  There 
^'  is  alfo  a  ftone  (fays  the  fcholiaft  on  Ariftopha- 
"  nes)  called  by  the  Athenians,  Agelaftus ;  on 
*'  which,  they  fay,  Thefeus  fat  when  he  was  me- 
"  ditating  his  defcent  into  hell.  Hence  the  ftone 
*'  had  its  name.  Or,  perhaps,  becaufe  Ceres  fat 
"  there,  weeping,  when  fhe  fought  Proferpine  °.'* 
All  this  feems  plainly  to  intimate,  that  the  defcent 
of  Thefeus  was  his  eyitrance  into  the  Eleufinian  my- 
Jieries.  Which  entrance  (as  we  fhall  fee  hereafter) 
was  a  fraudulent  intrufion. 

Both  Euripides  and  Ariftophanes  feem  to  con- 
firm our  interpretation  of  thefe  defcents  into  hell. 
Euripides,  in  his  Hercules  furens^  brings  the  hero, 
juft  come  from  hell,  to  fuccour  his  family,  and 
deftroy  the  tyrant  Lycus.  Juno,  in  revenge,  per- 
fecutes  him  with  the  furies  -,  and  he,  in  his  tranf- 
port,  kills  his  wife  and  children,  whom  he  miftakes 
for  his  enemies.  When  he  comes  to  himfelf,  he  is 
comforted  by  his  friend  Thefeus ;  who  would  ex- 
cufe  his  exceifes  by  the  criminal  examples  ot  the 
Gods:  a confideration,  which,  as  I  have  cbferved 
above,  greatly  encouraged  the  people  in  their  ir- 
regularities •,  and  was  therefore  obviated  in  the  My- 
fteries,  by  the  detection  of  the  vulgar  errors  of 
polytheifm.   Now  Euripides  feems  plainly  enough 

'■"  'AM't*=i'»i  yap  •n  ^f,u  xecioi  tviTriCriv  iyji;   ^vyul^oz  t»;;  Ko^-ni,   '5)pt 

^eio'^at  i^y  oJt^'ofAiii/..    ClcfTiens  Piotrcpt. 

xaO'icai  (pciai  €)-/]7ia.  f/.i'hXoila.  KcClaQa'v-eiv  lU  c'-oa'    c6iw  k.;  TBiofj.ct  tvj 

*j;;/  '  Schol.  Eciuit,  J'ifiofh,    1.   782  = 

I        '  '  tQ 


SeO:.  4.     o/"  M  o  s  E  s  demonjirated,  231 

to  have  told  us  what  he  thought  of  tlie  fabulous 
defcents  into  hell,  by  making  Hercules  reply,  like 
one  juil  come  from  the  celebration  of  the  Myfte- 
ries,  and  entrufted  with  the  drroffKloi.  "  The  ex- 
"  amples  (fays  he)  which  you  bring  of  the  Gods, 
"  are '^nothing  to  the  purpofc.  I  cannot  think 
*'  them  guilty  of  the  crimes  imputed  to  them.  I 
"  cannot  apprehend,  how  one  God  can  be  the  fo- 

"  vereign  of  another  God A  God,  who  is  truly 

"  fo,  ftands  in  need  of  no  one.  Rejed  we  then 
"  thefe  idle  fables,  which  the  poets  teach  concern- 
"  ing  them."  A  fecrei,  which  we  muft  fuppofe, 
Thefeus  (whofe  entrance  into  the  myfteries  was 
only  a  fraudulent  intrufion)  had  not  yet  learnt. 

The  comic  poet,  in  his  Frogs,  tells  us  as  plainly 
what  he  too  underftood  to  be  the  ancient  heroes' 
defcent  into  hell,  by  the  equipage,  which  he  gives 
to  Bacchus,  when  he  brings  him  in,  enquiring  the 
way  of  Hercules.     It  was  the  cuftom,  at  the  ce- 
lebration of  the  EleuJInian  myfteries,  as  we  are  told 
by  the  fcholiaft  on  the  place,  to  have  what  was 
wanted  in  thofe  rites,  carried  upon  afTes.     Hence 
the  proverb,  JJinus  portat  myfieria  :  accordingly 
the  poet  introduces  Bacchus,  followed  by  his  buf- 
foon fervant  Xanthius  bearing  a  bundle  in  like 
manner,   and  riding   on  an  afs.     And,    left  the 
meaning  of  this  fliould  be  miftaken,  Xanthius,  on 
Hercules's  telling  Bacchus,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Elyfium  were  the  initipJed,  puts  in,  and  fays,  "  And 
"  I  am  the  afs  carrying  myfteries."     This  was  fo 
broad  a  hint,    that  it  feems  to  have  awakened  the 
old  fcholiaft  •,  who,  when  he  comes  to  that  place, 
v/here  the  Chorus  of  the  initiated  appear,  tells  us, 
we  are  not  to  underftand  this  fcene  as  really  lying 
in  theELYSiAN  fields,  but  in  the  Eleusinian 

|,1YSTERIES  °. 

0^4  Here 


232  The  Divi?ie  Legation     Book  II, 

Here  then,  as  was  the  cafe  in  many  other  of 
the  ancient  fables,  the  pomp  of  expreflion  betray- 
ed wilHng  pofterity  into  the  marvellous.  But  why 
need  we  wonder  at  this  in  the  genius  of  more  an- 
cient times,  which  dehghted  to  tell  the  commoneft 
things  in  a  highly  figurative  manner,  when  a-writer 
of  fo  late  an  age  as  Apuleius,  either  in  imitation  of 
antiquity,  or  perhaps  in  compliance  to  the  receiv- 
ed phrafeology  of  the  myfferies,  defcribes  his  initi- 
ation in  the  fame  manner .  "  Accefii  confinium 
"  mortis ;  &  calcato  Proferpin^  limine,  per  omnia 
*'  veftus  elem^enta  remeavi :  no6te  media  vidi  folem 
"  candido  corufcantem  lumine,  Deos  inferos  & 
"  deos  Riperos.  Acceffi  coram,  &  adoravi  de  pro- 
.  "  ximo''."  iEneas  ■  could  not  have  defcribed  his 
night's  journey  to  his  companions,  after  he  had  been 
let  out  of  the  ivcry  gate,  in  properer  term.s,  had 
it  been  indeed  to  be  underflood  as  a  journey  into 
hell. 

Thus,  we  fee,  Virgil  was  obliged  to  have  his 
Hero  initiated  •,  and  that  he  had  the  authority  of  fa- 
bulous antiquity  to  call  this  initiation  a  defcent  in- 
to hell.  And  furely  he  m.ade  ufe  of  his  advan- 
lages  with  great  judgment ;  for  fuch  a  fiflion  ani- 
mates the  relation,  which,  delivered  out  of  allego- 
ry, had  been  too  cold  and  flat  for  epic  poetry. 

We  fee,  from  ^neas's  urging  the  example  of 
thofe  heroes  and  IawR;ivers,  who  had  been  initiated 
before  him,  that  his  requeft  was  only  for  an  initia- 
tion : 
Si  potuit  m.anis  arcefiere  conjugis  Orpheus, 
Threicia  fretus  cithara  fidibusque  canoris  : 
Si  fratrem  Pollux  alterna  morte  redemit, 
Itque  reditque  viam  toties  :  quid  I'hefea  magnum, 

in  )^'3^7. 

f  Lib.  xi.  prope  fincm. 

Qiiid 


Sc(ft.  4'    of  Moses  demo?2/lra fed.  233 

Quid  memorem  Alciden  ?  &  mi  genus  ab  Jove 
fummo. 
It  is  to  be  obferved,  that  Thefeus  is  the  only  one 
of  thefe  ancient  heroes  not  recorded  in  hiftory  to 
have  been  initiated,  though  we  have  fhewn  that  his 
defcent  into  hell  was,  like  that  of  the  reft,  only 
a  participation  of  the  Myfteries.  The  reafon  is,  his 
entrance  was  a  violent  intrufion. 

Had  an  old  poem,  under  the  name  of  Orpheus, 
intituled,  A  defcent  into  belly  been  now  extant,  it 
would,  perhaps,  have  (hewn  us,  that  no  more  was 
meant  than  Orpheus's  initiation  •,  and  that  the  idea 
ofthisfixth  book  was  taken  from  thence. 

But  further,  it  was  cuftomary  for  the  poets  of 
the  Auguftan  age  to  exercife  themfelves  on  the 
fubjed  of  the  Myfteries,  as  appears  from  Cicero, 
who  defires  Atticus,  then  at  Athens,  and  initiated, 
to  fend  toChilius,  a  poet  of  eminence  %  an  account 
of  the  Eleufinian  myfteries ;  in  order,  as  it  would 
feem,  to  infert  into  fome  poem  he  was  then  writ- 
ing \  Thus  it  appears,  that  both  the  ancient  and 
modern  poets  afforded  Virgil  a  pattern  for  this  fa- 
mous epifode. 

Even  Servius  faw  thus  far  into  Virgil's  defign, 
as  to  fay,  that  many  things  were  here  delivered  ac- 
cording  to  the  profound  learning  of  the  Egyptian  theo- 
logy^. And  we  have  fliewn  that  the  dodrines  taught 
in  the  myfferies,  were  invented  by  that  people.  But 
though  I  fay  this  was  our  poet's  general  defign,  I 
would  not  be  fuppofed  to  think  he  followed  no 
other  guides.     Several  of  the  circumftances  are 


o"- 


q  See  lib.  i.  ep.  i6.  ad  Atticum. 

r  Chilius  te  rogat  £c  ego  ejus  rogatu  ETMOAni  AfiN  nATFIA; 
lib.  i.  epift.  9.  ad  Atticum.  On  which  Vidorius  obferves, 
"  -craTfia  fere  omnes  excuii,  queinadmodum  eft  in  antiquis, 
*'  habent :  ut  intelligat  ritus  patrios  &  inftitutiones  illius  facras 
**  familia?,  &  augulta  myfteria,  ut  inquic  Cicero,  ii.  De  legg." 

^  Multaper  altam  fcientiam  theologicoruin  yCgyptiorum. 

borrowed 


234  ^^^  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

borrowed  from  Homer  -,  and  feveral  of  the  philo- 
fophic  notions  from  Plato :  fome  of  which  will  be 
taken  notice  of,  in  their  place. 

The  great  manager  in  this  affair  is  the  sibyl: 
and,  as  a  Virgin,  fhe  fuftains  two  principal  and  di- 
llinft  parts :  that  of  the  infpired  Priejiefs^  to  pro- 
nounce the  ORACLE  (whofe  relation  to  the  myfteries 
is  fpoken  of  above) ;  and  that  of  Hierophan^  to 
condu6t  the  initiated  through  the  whole  celebration. 

Her  firft  part  begins, 

Ventum  erat  ad  limen,  cumvirgo,  Pofc ere  fata 
Tempus,  ait.     Deus,  ecce,  Deus  — , 
O  tandem  magnis  pelagi  defunde  periclis  ^<r. 
and  ends, 
Ut  primum  celTit  furor,  &  rabida  ora  quierunt. 

Her  fecond  part  begins  at. 

Sate  fanguine  divum, 
Tros  Anchifiade  etc. 

and  continues  through  the  whole  book.  For  as 
we  have  obferved,  the  initiated  had  a  guide  or  con- 
duflor,  called  'I?^o(pavT>)f,  Mus-farj/wj/of,  'IfPsu'c,  in- 
differently of  either  fex ',  who  was  to  inftrudl 
him  in  the  preparatory  ceremonies,  and  lead  him 
through,  and  explain  to  him,  all  the  fliews  and  re 
prefentations  of  the  Myfteries.  Hence  Virgil  calls 
the  Sibyl  Magna  Sacerdos^  and  Do^a  Comes ^  words 
of  equivalent  fignification :  and  this,  becaufe  the 
Myfteries  of  Ceres  were  always  celebrated  in  Rome 
by  female  priefts ''.  And  as  the  female  myflagogue, 

*  Ta5  sepiaj    [Ajj^ajJI^'^J  MfXiora;    \}ta.>.iiv  ol   'aoiyjla.l.     Schol. 
Eurip.    Hippo/.      Ms^iwaj   X'jpio.';  ra;  ir,;  A-/3'|*>j1p(^    iipticc^  (prjai, 
§chol.  Find.  Pytl/ion. 
V  So  the  fatyrift, 

Paucae  adeo  Cereris  vittas  contingere  dignae. 

Juv.  Sat.  VI. 

as 


Sc6t.  4.    o/"  M  o  s  E  s  demonjirated,  235 

as  well  as  the  male,  was  devoted  to  a  finglc  life% 
fo  was  the  CumjEan  Sibyl,whom  he  calls  Cajla  Sibyl- 
la. Another  reafon  why  a  prieftefs  is  given  to  con- 
du6l  him,  is,  becaufe  Froferpine  prefides  in  this 
whole  affair.  And  the  name  of  the  prieftefs  in  the 
Eleujinian  myfteries  Ihews  that  fhe  properly  be- 
longed to  Proferpine,  though  fhe  was  alfo  called  the 
prieftefs  of  Ceres.  "  The  ancients  (fays  Porphy- 
*'  rius)  called  the  priefteffes  of  Ceres  MeA/ora/,  as 
*'  being  the  minifters  or  hierophants  of  the  fubter- 
*'  raneoLis  goddefs ;  and  Proferpine  herfelf,  MeAi- 
*'  Tw'<^>;f ''."  And  iEneas  addreffes  her  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  afpirant,  to  the  hierophant : 
H;tes  namque  omnia :  nee  tc 

Nequidquam  lucis  Hecate  pr^fecit  Avernis. 
and  Ihe  anfwers  much  in  the  ftyle  of  thofe  facred 
minifters. 

Quod  fi  tantus  amor,  etc. 

&  iNSANo  juvat  indulgere  labori; 
Accipe  quas  peragenda  prius. 
For  infamis  is  the  fame  as  6vO«(r<«?-<;toc,  and  this,  as 
we  are  told  by  Strabo,  was  an  infeparable  circum- 
ilance  of  the  myfteries  ^ 

^  Hierophanta  apud  Athenas  eviratur  virum,  &  sterna  de- 
bilitate fit  callus.  Hieron  adGeron.  De  Monogaviia.  Cereris 
facerdotes,  viventibus  etiam  viris,  &confentientibus,  arnica  fe- 
paratione  viduantur.  Tertul.  De  Monogamia,  fub  finem.  KaJ 
Tcv    lEi'O'l'AN.l  N   kJ  TaV  lEro<PANTlAAX,    ^  ron  ^acSSx''>',  '^  t«<,- 

ru.vTiu>  fna-'i.  Schol.  Sophoci.  Ocdip.  col.  V.  674. It  was 

for  tliis  reafon  that  thefe  female /'?Vro/'/;'^77//'j  were  called  M/^iM-ai, 
as  is  well  obferved  by  the  Schol.  on  Find,  in  Pyth.  the  bee  be- 
^ng,  among  the  ancients,  the  fymbol  of  chafuty  : 

Quod  nee  concubitu  indulgent,   nee  corpora  fegnes 

In  Venerem  folvunt. 

^cc>\a.i'ii  c-Ka^a^i   avTTiv  T  r-,;j  K;fijv  ^h^i^wt■.;.    De  Antra  nytnph. 

y  liri  Avju-^^t  uj  Aia  TO  OPriAl^TlKGN  T7xv,  y^  rl  BxK^ixit,  y^ 
TC  ^ojixtr,  x^  TO  'Z?i »  Ta;  nhp.ui  f4yr»X"v.  lib.  X> 

7 'he 


236  ^e  Divine  Legation    Book  IL 

The  firft  inftrudion  the  prieftefs  gives  ^neas, 
is  to  fearch  for  the  golden  bought  facred  to  Profer- 
pine  ; 

Aureus  &  folils  &  lento  vimine  ramus, 

Junoni  infem<£  facer. 
Servius  can  make  nothing  of  this  circumftance.  He 
fuppofes  it  might  poffibly  allude  to  a  tree  in  the 
middle  of  the  facred  grove  of  Diana's  temple  in 
Greece ;  where,  if  a  fugitive  came  for  fanduary,  and 
could  get  off  a  branch  from  the  tree,  which  was 
carefully  guarded  by  the  priefts,  he  was  to  contend 
in  fmgle  combat  with  one  of  them,  and,  if  he  over- 
came, was  to  take  his  place  ^.  Though  nothing  can 
be  more  foreign  to  the  matter  in  qufi^ion  than  this 
rambling  account,  yet  the  Abbe  Banier  is  content 
to  follow  it  %  for  want  of  a  better  ^  But  the  truth  is, 

^  But  Servius,  in  his  explanation  of  the  branch,  went  upon 
the  opinion  that  ^neas's  defcent  into  hell  was  the  fame  with 
that  of  UlylTes,  in  Homer,  a  ^lecrcmantic  incantation  by  facri- 
fice,  to  call  up  the  fhadows  from  thence  "  Ramus  enim  ne- 
**  cefTe  erat,  ut  &  unius  caufa  efTet  interitus,  unde  &  ftatim 
"  mortem  fubjungit  Mifeni :  &  ad  facra  Proferpinas  accedere, 
"  nifi  fublato  ramo  non  poterat.  Inferos  autem  fubire,  hoc 
*'  dicit  facra  celebrare  Proferpinse."  And  again,  ad  f  149. 
*'  Pr-cterea  jacct  exanimum  tibi  corpus  ami ci.  Acfidiceret; 
"  Eft  Sc  alia  opportunita-  defcendendi  ad  inferos,  id  eft,  Profer- 
**  pinjs  facra  peragendi.  Duo  eqim  horum  facrorum  genera 
*'  fuifie  dicuntur  ;  unum  kec voMANTii^,  quod  Lucanus 
*'  exfequitur  ;  &  aliud  scroM  antije,  id  eft,  divinationis  per 
"  umbras;  crxia  enim  umbra  eft,  Sc  y.s./]i',a.,  vaticinium,  quod 
**  in  Homero,    quern  Virgilius  fequitur,   leftum  eft." 

2   Explicat.  hijlor.  dcs  fables,  vol.  ii.    p.  133.  Ed.  I  71  5. 

''  The  learned  Selden  in  his  comment  on  the  ninth  book  of 
Tclj-olbion,  feems  to  ap;-rove  the  abfurd  conjefture  of  P.  Crini- 
tus,  xhzx\\is. gddin  bough  {\'y;n\i:Q'i  imfutoe  :  and  would  confirm 
it  by  that  very  reafon,  which  abiolutely  overthrows  it ;  viz. 
that  Virgil  compar  £s  it  to  the  mijlctoc  :  for  it  is  contrary  to 
all  the  rules  of  good  writing,  whether  fnnply  figurative,  or  al- 
legoric, to  make  the  cojupayifon  to  the  cover,  the  contents  of  the 
cover  :  a  comparifon  neccftarily  implying,  that  the  thing,  to 
which  another  is  comp.ired,  fliould  be  diiterent  from  that  other. 

under 


Scdl.  4»       of  Moses  demonjirafed.         237 

under  this  branch,  is  concealed  the  wreath  of  myrtle^ 
with  which  the  initiated  were  crowned,  at  the 
celebration  of  the  myfteries ".  i .  The  golden  bough 
is  faid  to  be  facred  to  Proferpine,  and  fo  we  arc 
told  was  the  7nyrtk:  Proferpine  only  is  mentioned 
all  the  way ;  partly,  becaufe  the  initiation  is  de- 
fcribed  as  an  aftual  defcent  into  hell  j  but  princi- 
pally, becaufe,  when  the  rites  of  the  myfteries  were 
performed,  Ceres  and  Proferpine  were  equally  in- 
voked *,  but  when  xh^Jhews  were  reprefented,  then 
Proferpine  alone  prefided  :  now  this  book  is  a  re- 
prefentation  of  the  fhews  of  the  myfteries.  2.  The 
quality  of  this  golden  bought  with  its  lento  vimine^ 
admirably  defcribes  the  tender  branches  of  tnyrtle. 
Q.  The  doves  of  Venus  are  made  to  diredl^Eneas 

to  the  tree :  >-r  •        u 

Turn  maximus  heros 

Maternas  agnofcit  aves. 
They  fly  to  it,  and  delight  to  reft  upon  it,  as  their 
miftrefs's  favourite  tree. 

Sedibus  optatis  gemina  fuper  arbore  fidunt. 
For  the  myrtle y  as  is  known  to  every  one,  was  con- 
fecrated  to  Venus.  And  there  is  a  greater  propri- 
ety and  beauty  in  this  difpofition,  than  appears  at 
firft  fight.  For  not  only  the  myrtle  was  dedicated 
to  Proferpine  as  well  as  Venus,  but  the  doves  like- 
wife,  as  Porphyry  informs  us**. 

But  the  reader  may  aik,  why  is  this  myrtle- 
branch  reprefented  to  be  of  gold  ?  not  merely  for 
the  fake  of  the  marvellous^  he  may  be  afTured.  A 
golden  bough  was  literally  part  of  the  facred  equi- 
page in  the  ftiews  of  the  myfteries.  For,  the  branch 
which  was  fometimes  wreathed  into  a  crown,  and 


Mt;^o-»»n?  fe(pdva   Ire^atwlo    o«  f*ffiu»)/Mivot      Schol.   Ariftoph. 
tis. 

J  16. 


rivoi^x  7uy  Sto?woywv,   Ufl»  yuftcvTVi  »!  ^xtIo,,   Porph,  De  Abjl,  lib. 


worn 


238  ^he  Divine  Legation    Book  IL 

worn  on  the  head,  was,  at  other  times,  carried  in 
the  hand.  Clemens  Alexandrinus  tells  us  %  from 
Dionyfius  Thrax  the  grammarian,  that  it  was  an 
Egyptian  cuflom  to  hold  a  branch  in  the  ad:  of  ad- 
oration. And  of  what  kind  thefe  branches  were, 
Apuleius  tells  us,  in  his  defcription  of  a  proceflion 
of  the  initiated  in  the  myfteries  ot  Ifis.  "  Ibat 
*'  tertius,  attollens  palmam  auro  subtiliter 
"  foliatam,  nee  non  mercurialem  etiam  ca- 
*'  DucEUM^.'*  TliQ  golden  branch,  then,  and  the 
caduceus  were  related.  And  accordingly  Virgil 
makes  the  former  do  the  ufual  office  of  the  latter, 
in  affording  a  free  paflage  into  the  regions  of  the 
dead.  Again,  Apuleius,  defcribing  the  fifth  per- 
fon  in  the  proceffion,  fays,  "  Quintus  auream 
*'  vannum  aureis  congeftam  ramuliss."  So 
that  a  golden  bough,  we  fee,  was  an  important  im- 
plement, and  of  very  complicated  intention  in  the 
Jbews  of  the  myfteries. 

JEneas  having  now  poiTefTed  himfelf  of  the  gol- 
den bough,  a  paffport  as  neceflary  to  his  defcent  as  a 
myrtle  crown  to  initiation, 

Sed  non  ante  datur  telluris  operta  fubire, 
Auricomos  quam  quis  decerpferit  arbore  foetus, 
carries  it  into  the  fibyl's  grot : 

Et  vatis  portat  fub  tefba  fibyllse. 

And  this  was  to  defign  initiation  into  the  lejfer  my- 
fteries:  for  Dion  Chryfoftom  ^  tells  us,  it  was  per- 
formed Iv  olK^y,o(Jt  fMK^w,  in  a  little  narrow  chapel, 
fuch  a  one  as  we  muft  fuppofe  the  Sibyl's  grot  to 
be.  The  initiated  into  thefe  rites  were  called  MT- 
ZTAI. 

®  —  fc^^  AlyvTfi'im  xj  to  twi*  ^ci}\7\a>  tuv  oico^ivur  ToTimfOcrXviJU*' 
vcn.  Strom,  lib.  v.  p.  568. 

f  Metam.  lib.  xi.  p.  383.  f  Ibid. 

*>  Or  at,  12. 

he 


Sed.  4.     of  Moses  demonflrated.  239 

He  is  then  led  to  the  opening  of  the  defcent : 
Speluncae  alta  fuit,  vaftoque  immanis  hiatu 
Scrupea,  tuta  iacu  nigro  nemorumque  tenebris. 

And  his  reception  is  thus  defcribed  : 

Sub  pedibus  mugire  folum  &  juga  ccepta  moveri 
Sylvarum  •,  vifeque  canes  ululare  per  umbram, 
Adventante  dea. 

How  fimilar  is  all  this  to  the  fine  defcription  of" 
the  poet  Claudian,  where,  profeffedly  and  without 
difguife,  he  fpeaks  of  the  tremendous  entry  into 
thefe  myflic  rites. 

Jam  mihi  cernuntur  trepidis  delubra  moveri 
Sedibus,  &  claram  difpergere  fulmina  lucem, 
Adventum  teftata  Dei.     Jam  magnus  ab  imis 
Auditur  fremitus  terris,  templumque  remugit 
Ce cr opium  \,  fan5iasque  faces  attollit  Eleusint; 
Angues  Triptokmi  Jiridunty  &  fquamea  curvis 
Colla  levant  attrita  jugis  — 
Exce  procul  ternas  Hecate  variata  figuras 
Exoritur.'. 

Both  thefe  defcriptions  agree  exactly  with  the  rela- 
tions of  the  ancient  Greek  writers  on  this  fubje(5L 
Dion  Chryfoftom,  fpeaking  of  initiation  into  the 
myfteries,  gives  us  this  general  idea  of  it :  "  Juft 
"  fo  it  is,  as  when  one  leads  a  Greek  or  barbarian 
"  to  be  initiated  in  a  certain  rnyftic  dome,  excel- 
"  ling  in  beauty  and  magnificence ;  where  he  fees 
"  many  myftic  fights,  and  hears  in  the  fame  man- 
"  ner  a  multitude  of  voices-,  where  darknefs  and 
"  light  alternately  afFedt  his  fenfes ;  and  a  thoufand 
"  other  uncommon  things  prefent  themfelves  be- 
"  fore  him'." 

The  poet  next  relates  the  fanatic  agitation  of  the 
myftagogue,  on  this  occafion, 

»  De  raptu  Pro/erp,  fub  initio, 

Procul, 


240  ^^^  Divine  Legation    Book  II, 

Procul,   o  procul  efte,  profani, 

Conclamat  vates,  totoque  abfiftite  luco. 

Tantum  efFata  furens  antro  fe  immifit  aperto. 
So  again,  Claudian,  where  he  counterfeits,  in  his 
own  perfon,  the  raptures  and  aftonifhment  of  the 
initiated,  and  throws  himfclf,  as  it  were,  like  the 
fibyl,  into  the  middle  of  the  fcene, 

GrefTus  removete,  profani. 

Jam  furor  humanos  noftro  de  pe6tore  fenfus 

Expulit. 
The  PROCUL,  o  PROCUL  ESTE,  PROFANI  of  the 
fibyl,  is  a  literal  tranflation  of  the  formula  ufed  by 
the  myftagogue,  at  the  opening  of  the  myfteries : 
EKAS,  EKAS  E2TE,  BEBHAOI. 
But  now  the  poet,  intending  to  accompany  his 
hero  through  all  the  myfterious  rites  of  his  initi- 
ation, and  confcious  of  the  imputed  impiety  in  bring- 
ing them  out  to  open  day,  flops  Ihort  in  his  nar- 
ration, and  breaks  out  into  this  folemn  apology, 

Dii,  quibus  imperium  eft  animarum,  umbrsequc 
filentes ; 

Et  Chaos  &  Phlegethon  loca  no6le  filentia  late. 

Sit  mihi  fas  audita  loqui :  fit  numine  veftro 

Pandere  res  alta  terra  &  caligine  merfas  — 
Claudian,  wlio  (as  we  have  obferved)  profefles 
openly  to  treat  of  the  Eleujinian  myfteries,  at  a  time 
when  they  were  in  little  veneration,  yet,  in  com- 
pliance to  old  cuftom,  excufes  his  undertaking  in 
the  fame  manner : 

Dii,  quibus  in  numerum,  etc. 

Vos  mihi  facrarum  penetralia  pandite  reruni, 

.  "^  l^e.'^oi  «»  oixoiov,  uiTtJi^  tin;   «>^{«  "EXXjjva,  rj  Bd^Qu^ot   (iv 
tiaK»i    vvjOtf^i^a;  £15  [A,vrtxo>  rivet  'jIk-j*,  vTiftpvri  xa.>0\ei  kJ  [Myi^etf 

i'ji^uv.  Orat.  12. 

Et 


Sed.  4«     of  Mo^E^  demofiftrated.  241 

Et  veftri  fecreta  poll,  qua  lampade  Ditem 
Flexit  Amor,  quo  du6ta  ferox  Proferpina  raptu 
Pofiedit  dotale  Chaos  ;  quantasque  per  eras 
Sollicito  genetrix  erraverit  anxia  curfu  ; 
Unde  datae  populis  leges,  &,  ghnde  relidla, 
Ceflerit  inventis  Dodonia  quercus  ariflis'. 
Had  the  reveahng  the  Myfteries  been  as  penal  at 
Rome,  as  it  was  in  Greece,  Virgil  had  never  ven-  • 
tured  on  this  part  of  his  poem.     But  yet  it  was 
efteemed  impious ""  j  and  what  is  more,   it  was 
infamous. 

vetabo  qui  cereris  facrum 

Vulgarit  arcan^e,  fub  iisdem 
Sit  trabibus  fragilemque  mecum 
Solvat  phafelum  —  Hor. 

He  therefore  does  it  covertly  ♦,  and  makes  this  apo- 
logy to  fuch  as  faw  into  his  meaning. 

The  hero  and  his  guide  now  enter  on  their  jour- 
ney : 
Ibant  obfcuri  fola  fub  no6le  per  umbras: 
Perque  domos  Ditis  vacuas,  &  inania  regna. 
Quale  per  incertam  lunam  fub  luce  maligna 
Eft  iter  in  fylvis  :  ubi  ccelum  condidit  umbra 
Jupiter,  &  rebus  nox  abftulit  atra  colorem. 
This  defcription  will  receive  much  light  from  a 
paflage  in  Lucian's  dialogue    of  the  tyrant.    As 
a  company  made  up  of  every  condition  of  life, 
are  voyaging  together  to  the  other  world,  Mycil- 
lus  breaks  out,   and  fays :  "  Blefs   us !  how  dark 
*'  it  is  ?  where  is  the  fair  Megillus  .^  who  can  tell 
*'  in  this  fituation,  whether  Simmiche  or  Phryna 

•  De  rc-ptti  Proferpina',  lib.  i.  fub  ink. 

™  Athenis  initiatus  [Auguflus]  cam  podea  Romas  pro  tribu- 
nal! de  privilegio  facerdotum  Atticx  Cereris  cognoiceret,  & 
qusdam  fecretoria  proponerentur,  dimiflb  concilio  &  corona 
circumftantium,  folus  audiit  difceptantes.  Sueton.  lib  ii.  Ocia'v. 
Aug.  cap.  93. 

Vol.  I.  R  «  be 


242  ^h^  Dmne  Legation    Book  II. 

«'  be  the  handfomer  ?  every  thing  is  alike,  and  of 
*'  the  fame  colour  ;  there  is  no  room  for  rivalling 
*«  of  beauties.  My  old  cloak,  which  but  now 
*'  prefented  to  your  eyes  fo  irregular  a  figure,  is 
"  become  as  honourable  a  garb  as  his  majefty's 
"  purple.  They  are,  indeed,  both  vaniilied ", 
"  and  retired  together  under  the  fame  cover.  But 
'"  my  friend,  the  Cynic,  where  are  You!  give  me 
"  your  hand :  you  are  initiated  in  the  Eleufinian 
"  myfteries.  'Tell  me  7ww^  do  you  not  think  this 
"  very  like  the  blind  march  they  make  there  ?  C  y.  Oh 
"  extremely :  and  fee^  here  comes  one  of  the  Furies^ 
"  as  I gucfs  by  her  equipage ;  her  torch^  and  her  ter- 
"  rible  looks\'' 

The  Sibyl,  on  their  approach  to  the  mouth  of 
the  cave,  had  advifed  ^Eneas  to  call  up  all  his  cou- 
rage, as  being  to  undergo  the  fevereft  trials, 

"  The  original  has  a  peculiar  elegance.  'A<I)ANH  75!,^  a.yi.'^u 
Sec.  alludes  to  the  ancient  Greek  notions  concerning  the  Jirjl 
matter,  which  they  called  «(par/:c,  in'vifible,  as  being  without 
the  qualities  of  form  and  colour.  The  inverting  matter  with 
thefe  qualities,  was  the  produftion  of  bodies,  the  to,  (paitoixsyx  : 
their  dilfolution,  a  return  to  a  Hate  of  i?i<vijibility.  —  sij  'At^fA- 
NES  y^-^^u  icioici'hvj^iyoi,  as  the  pretended  Merc.  Trifmag.  has 
it,  cap.  xi.  Matter,  in  this  ftate  of  invifibility,  was,  by  th« 
earlier  Greeks,  called 'aahs.  Afterwards,  the  ftate  itfelf  was 
fo  called  ;  and  at  length  it  came  to  fignify  the  abode  of  depart- 
ed fpirits :  hence  fome  ot  the  Orphic  odes,  which  were  fung  in 
the  mylleries,  bore  the  title  of  -.1  tl;  AAOT  KATaBa!.)!,  a 
defccjit  ii  to  the  regions  of  the  dead,  a  little  equivalent  to  TEAE- 
TAI  and  'lErOr  aoV'.jZ. 

°   MI.   'Hfa'x>>H;  re  fo'ipa'    csfc  lui/  0  K.ot.'hhc  Viiy^W'^,    03  t«  2j!st- 

Xswf'  u'2)uiri  ya.p  u^:,(pu,   >c^  viiO  tu  uvtoi  trxoTui  KcclxS'^evKoTtx,.    Kmj- 

tJ/Ts  f^""*,    tTtX/c&'/jj  ya.(^,    w    ¥..wj'i(XKt,   -Toi  E  AK  f  XINIA,   «p(j  OMOJA 
ToT;  iH.ii  %'Aei^i  crot  oox£*' ;      KIN.    a'J   hiyea;'    l^e  bv  'nr^ccrf^;^/Ia.t  0^ 

Tuque 


Sedl.  4.     0/  M  o  s  E  s  demonjirated,  243 

Tuque  invade  viam,  vaginaque  eripe  ferrum : 
Nunc  animis  opus,  i^nea,  nunc  pedlore  firmo. 
Thefe  trials  were  of  two  forts  :  the  encountering 
real  labours  and  difficulties ;  and  the  being  expofed 
to  imaginary  and  falfe  terrors.  This  latter  was  fub- 
mitted  to  by  all  the  initiated  in  general :  the  other 
was  referved  for  Chiefs  and  Leaders.    On  which 
account,  Virgil  defcribes  them  both  in  their  order; 
as  they  were  both  to  be  undergone  by  his  hero. 
The  firft  in  thefe  words, 
Veflibulum  ante  ipfumj  primisque  in  faucibus 

Orci, 
Lu6lus  &  ultrices  pofuere  cubilia Curse : 
Pallentesque  habitant  Morbi?,  triftisque  Sene6lus. 
Et  metus,  &  malefuada  Fames,  &  turpis  Egeftas  % 
Terribiles  vifu  formjE  ;  Lethumque,  Labosque  : 
Turn  confanguineus  Lethi  Sopor,  &  mala  mentis 
Gaudia,mortiferum.queadverlo  in  limine  Bellum, 
Ferreique  Eumenidum  thalami,  &  Difcordia  de- 

mens 

To  underftand  the  force  of  thisdefcriptiort,  it  will 
be  neceliary  to  tranfcribe  the  account  the  ancients 
have  left  us  of  the  probationary  trials  in  the  my- 
fteries  of  Mithras,  whofe  participation  was  more 
particularly  afpired  to,  by  chiefs  and  leaders  of  ar- 
tnies ;  Vv^hence  thefe  initiated  were  com.monly  call- 
ed the  soldiers  OF  MiTHRASi.  "  No  one  (fays 
"  Nonnus,  could  be  initiated  into  thefe  myfteries 
"  [of  Mithras]  till  he  had  paiTed  gradually  through 
*'  the  probationary  labours  [by  which  he  was  to 

P  Quinti  miflaken  in  fuppofing  pallentefque  &:c.  a  metO" 
nytny.  Had  this  been  the  delcription  of  an  hoipital  he  had 
been  right. 

^  Erubefcite,  Romani  commilitones  ejus,  jam  non  ab  ipfo 
judicandi,  fed  ab  aliquo  Mithr^  milite  :  qui  cum  initia- 
tur  in  fpelaeo  i^V.    Tertull.  De  corona  militia. 

R  2  "  acquire 


244  ^^^  Divine  Legation    Book  II. 

"  acquire  a  certain  apathe  and  fandity.]  There 
*'  were  eighty  degrees  of  thefe  labours,  from  lefs 
"  to  greater:  and  when  the  afpirant  has  gone 
"  through  them  all,  he  is  initiated.  Thefe  la- 
"  hours  are,  —  to  pafs  through  fire,  to  endure 
"  cold,  hunger,  and  thirll,  to  undergo  much  jour- 
"  neyings  •,  and,  in  a  word,  every  toil  of  this  na- 
"  turei." 

The  fecond  fort  of  trial  were  the  imaginary  ter- 
rors, of  the  myfteries ;  and  thefe,  Virgil  defcribes 
next.    And  to  diftinguifh  them  from  the  real  la- 
bours preceding,  he  feparates  the  two  accounts  by 
that  fine  circumftance  of  the  tree  of  dreams,  which 
introduces  the  latter. 
In  medio  ramos  annofaque  brachia  pandit 
Ulmus  opaca,  ingens :  quam  fedem  fomnia  vulga 
Vana  tenere  ferunt,foliisque  fub  omnibus  hasrent. 
Multaque  prasterea  variarum  monflraferarum, 
Centauri  in  foribus  flabulant,  Scy  Usque  biformes, 
Et  centum  geminus  Briareus  &  bellua  Lernas ; 
Horrendum   ftridens,   flammisque   armata  Chi- 

msra: 
Gorgones,  Harpy iseque,  &  forma  tricorporis  um- 

brs. 
Thefe  terrihiles  vifu  form£  are  the  fame  which 
Pletho,  in  the  place  quoted  above,  calls  Ui^okoIx  t«V 
uo^(poii  (pixo-[ji,uluy  as  feen  in  the  entrance  of  the  my- 

1  a  ^Mjulaci  «>  T»?  IK  0CV7OII  T£>.sr'^>;i'«t,  u  (A,yi  itt^oti^ov  H^  ruv$a.^. 

Ta?  E^aipgoTe^o.?,  tTra  Taj  Ofa^izuri^aii.  >^  ei6'  utu  /X^  to  wapeXOsr* 
oici  "aciaui  tuv  K'j^ia-tcov ,  totb  Tt7\i77cii  a  TtXa/AEi®^'  at  cl  x-oXdaeii; 
lie*  TO  ^»a  'TTt'co;  "STCc^EhS^Tv,  TO  oiu  y.fVHi,  ciu  ijTEii'ijf  K^  d'.'v}/*)?,  oni 
o^oiTTo^/a?  «'c<?>?i!7;,  t^  awXaJ?  ^las  'SJaarov  Tu'i  toiht&iv.  NonnUS,  m 
Secundam  Nazlanz.  Steletcuticati:,  And  again  he  fays,-  ahU  ^i- 
^Mjaia.i  T£^et'i70al  t«?  rS  Mi9§8  TE?>iIa?,  el  (/.'n  oia  'SJoc^tiv  Tut  KoXot' 
T!&'»  •^^■«Ji^67l,  y^  hl^ot  loi-vlov  «Ta8»  Tiva  »c^  har.i  Scc, 

Jleries'y 


Sed.  4.'     of  Moses  demonjlrafed,  245 

Jieries ;  and  which  Celfns  tells  us,  were  likewife 
prefented  in  the  Bacchic  rites  ^, 

But  it  is  realbnable  to  fuppofe,  that  thoiigh  thefe 
things  had  the  ufe  here  afligned  to  them,  it  was 
fome  circumftance  in  the  recondite  phyfiology  of 
the  Eaft,  which  preferred  them  to  this  ftation.  We 
are  to  confider  then  this  dark  entrance  into  the  My- 
fteries,  as  a  reprefentation  of  the  Chaos^  thus  cha- 
raderifed. 

Ibant  obfcuri  fola  Tub  no61:e  per  umbram, 

Perque  domos  Ditis  vacuas  &  inania  regna. 
And  amongft  the  feveral  powers  invoked  by  the 
Poet,  at  his  entrance  on  this  fcene.  Chaos  is  one. 

Di,  quibus  imperium  eft  animorum  umbrseque 
filentes  : 

Et  Chaos  &  Phlegethon,  kca  no£fe  tacentia  late. 
Now  a  fragment  of  Berofus,  prelerved  by  George 
Syncellus,  defcribes  the  ancient  Chaos^  according 
to  the  phyfiology  of  the  Chaldeans,  in  this  man- 
ner, —  "  There  was  a  time,  they  fay,  when  all  was 
"  water  and  darknefs.  And  thefe  gave  birth 
*'  and  habitation  to  monftrous  animals  of  mixed 
*'  forms  and  fpecies.  For  there  were  men  with 
*'  two  wings,  others  with  four,  and  fome  again 

*'  with  double  faces Some  had  the  horns  of 

*'  goats,  fome  their  legs,  and  fome  the  legs  of 
"  horfes  ;  others  had  the  hind-parts  of  horfes,  and 
*'  the  fore-parts  of  men,  like  the  hippocentaurs. 
*'  There  were  bulls  with  human  heads,  dogs  with 
*'  four  bodies  ending  in  fifhes,  horfes  with  dogs 
*'  heads ;  and  men,  and  other  creatures  with  the 
*'  heads  and  bodies  of  horfes,  and  with  the  tails  of 
"  fiflies.  And  a  number  of  animals,  whofe  bo- 
"  dies  were  a  monftrous  compound  of  the  dif- 
*'  fimilar  parts  of  bcafts  of  various  kinds.     To- 

ei(7atyticri.     Origen.  Cotiira  Ce/f.  lib  iv.  p.  167, 

R  3  **  gether 


246  ^he  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

"  gether  with  thefe,  were  fiihes,  reptiles,  ferpents, 
"  and  other  creatures,  which,  by  a  reciprocal  tranf- 
"  lation  of  the  parts  to  one  another,  became  all 
"  portentoufly  deformed  ;  the  piftures  and  re- 
"  prefentations  of  which  were  hung  up  in  the 
*'  temple  of  Belus.  Awoman  ruled  over  the  whole, 
^'  whole  name  was  Omoroca,  in  the  Chaldee 
"  tongue  Thalath,  which  fignifies  the  fea;  and,  in 
"  the  courfe  of  connexion,  the  moon ^"  This  ac- 
count feems  to  have  been  exadlly  copied  in  the 
Myfteries,  as  appears  from  the  defcription  of 
the  poet, 

Multaque  prjEterea  variarum  monflra  ferarum 
Centauri  in  foribus  ftabulant,  Scyll^que  biformes, 
Et  centum  geminus  Briareus,  &  belluaLernjE 
Horrendum  ftridens,  flammisque  armata  Chimasra ; 
Gorgones,  Harpyiceque,  &  forma  tricorporis  um- 
bra;: 
The  CANINE  figures  have  a  confiderable  ftation  in 
this  region  of  moijfters  :     And  he  tells  us, 

vifaeque  canes  ululare  per  umbram  : 
which  Pletho  explains  in  his  fcholia  on  the  magic 
oracles  of  Zoroafter.     "  It  is  the  cuftom,  in  the 
*'  celebr.:tion  of  the  myfteries,  to  prefent  before 

'    TtviSsa.1  (pyicr)  yfr'ov,    Iv  u>  To  isav,  axiro;  J^  vdcig  u),   kJ  Is  TiiToli 

fVfo'  ^  alyuy  axiT^-zi  t^  yAooila  \yp\i\a,c,j  t«;  os  I'KitdTrooac,  ts?  ^i  rd 
(iTr'icb)  fjLiv  f/-E«i3  iTrTTA'!,  Tx  St  i[/j7rco^k\i  dvQfUTruv,  ^?  I'TrtroHivlxv^a;  f" 
tosccv  fj^.  Zuoyoy/i^yjiai  ai  y^  Ta.vPii<;,  uv^fur.-uy'  KiipaKx.!;  t'^ovla^.  jtj 
Xwja.i;  T£Tfac-wf/.aT«?  Jja?  ixP'-^^  '^^-  '^^''  iVicCtii/ /•.'..-^wv  tVci/'ja?,  xj 
JTTTry;  xu/Jo;£l.^a^Bi,  i^  diQeuiTrac^  yj^  irt^a.  Qvju,  Ki(pa7^a^  f/Xn  >^  ffu~ 
^Wu,    iTr'!rci!v  i^oila^  y^«?  01  I'^vu'^  y^  a.'hy.a.    oe  tun.  taa^lo^u'ivm  Sjj- 

<»^^«  C^uat  'BJA'Acf'ja.  BciVfAO-rx  x^  '7not.^y,X>.a.\y.i)ici  Tdq  o~\/H<i  a,X7\yi7im  e'v- 
evla.  u!>  xj  ra.<;  i\Ko»aq,  iv  nru  ts  B-^A«  vaio  kvccxh^.  "A^^siv  ^\  ra- 
'ruti  'CTailcoi  yiuicchia,  r,  cvoy^oc  'Of/.i^unrd-      E  vui  osryxo  XaA^aiV*  /^s" 

Georg.  Syncel.  Cbromgr.      ' 

f.  many 


Se6l.  4-     of  M.os'ES  demonfirated.  247 

"  many  of  the  initiated,  phantafms  of  a  canine  fi- 
"  gure,  and  other  monilrous  Ihapes  and  appear- 
"  ances\" 

The  woman,  whofe  name  coincides  with  that  of 
the  moon^  was  the  Hecate  of  the  Greeks,  who  is  in- 
voked by  T^Lneas  on  this  occafion. 

Voce  vocans  Hecaten  ccdo  iir^Z-^que  potentem. 
Hence  terrifying  vifions  were  called  Hecatea^. 
The  reafon  why  Hecate,  or  the  moon,  came  to  be 
one  of  the  governefTes  in  thefe  rites,  was,  becaufe 
fome  had  placed  Elyfium  in  the  moon  j  the  Ely- 
iian  fields  being  from  thence  called  the  fields  of 
Hecate,  The  ancients  called  Plecate,  Divo.  tri- 
form is.  And  Scaliger  obferves  that  this  word  tha- 
lath^  which  Syncellus,  or  Berofus,  fays,  was  equi- 
valent to  the  moon,  fignifies  tria. 

And  now  we  foon  find  the  hero  in  a  fright, 
Corripit  hie  fubita  trepidus  formidine  ferruni 
j^neas,  ftriftamque  aciem  venientibus  cffert. 
With  thefe  aifeftions  the  ancients  reprcfent  the  In^ 
itiated  as  poffeffed  on  his  iirft  entrance  into  thefe 
holy  rites,     "  Entering  now  into  the  myfcic  dome 
"  (fays  Themiftius)  he  is  filled  with  horror  and 
"  amazement.     Ele  is  feized  with  folicitude,  and 
"  a  total  perplexity :  he  is  unable  to  move  a  flep 
"  forward,  and  at  a  iofs  to  find  the  entrance  to 
*'  that  road  which  is  to  lead  him  to  the  place  he 
■"  afpires    to.     Till  the   prophet   [the   vates]    or 
"  conduftor,   laying  open   the   veftibule  of    the 
"  temple"" —     To  the  fame  purpofe  Proclus : 


_r£  '^;)c>);  jji-iwocan  o7nv£^' ^-c — ,,     - --  -   _, 

i.)iir><^  atXiTp.ao-ai  ra  -s^foTT'jMix  t5  viu.    Orai.  in  Patran. 

R  4  "  —As 


24S  T'he  Divine  Legation     Book  IL 

«  — As  in  the  mod  holy  myfteries,  before  the  fcene 
"■•  of  the  myftic  vifions,  there  is  a  terror  infufed 
*'  over  the  minds  of  the  initiated,  fo  "  &c.  ^ 

The  adventurers  come  now  to  the  banks  of  Co- 
cytus.  iEneas  is  furprized  at  the  crowd  of  ghofts 
which  hover  round  it,  and  appear  impatient  for  a 
paiTage.  His  guide  tells  him  they  are  thofe  who 
have  not  had  the  rites  of  fepulture  performed  to 
their  manes,  and  fo  are  doomed  to  wander  up  and 
down  for  a  hundred  years,  before  they  be  permit- 
ted to  crofs  the  river. 

Nee  ripas  datur  horrendas,  nee  rauca  fluenta 

Tranfportare  prius,  quam  fedibus  offa  quierunt. 

Centum  errant  annos,voHtantq-,  hsclitoracircum. 

Tum  demum  admifii  ftagna  exoptata  revifunt. 
We  are  not  to  think  this  old  notion  took  its  rife 
from  the  vulgar  fuperftition.  It  was  one  of  the 
wifefl  contrivances  of  ancient  politics  ;  and  came 
originally  from  Egypt,  the  fountain-head  of  legif- 
lation.  Thofe  profound  mafters  of  wifdom,  in 
projedling  for  the  common  good,  found  nothing 
would  more  contribute  to  the  fafety  of  their  fellow 
citizens  than  the  public  and  folemn  interment  of 
the  dead  :  as  without  this  provifion,  private  murders 
might  be  eafily  and  fecurely  committed.  They 
therefore  introduced  the  cuftom  of  pompous  fu- 
neral rites :  and,  as  Herodotus  and  Piodorus  tell 
us,  were  of  all  people  the  moll  circumftantially 
ceremonious  in  the  obfervance  of  them.  To  fecure 
thefe  by  the  force  of  religion,  as  well  as  civil 
cuftom,  they  taught,  that  the  deceafed  could  not 
retire  to  a  place  of  reft,  till  they  vv'ere  per- 
formed. The  notion  fpread  fo  wide,  and  fixed  its 
roots  fo  deep,  that  the  fubftance  of  the  fuperfti- 
tion remains,  even  to  this  day,  in  moft  civilized 

iX^Xnl!;  ?  fcfi-fuVw,  aV<y  —  In  Plat.  Theol.  lib.  iii.  cap.  18. 

countries. 


Se£t.  4«    ^  Moses  demonjirated,  249 

countries.  By  fo  effe6lual  a  method  did  the  legifla- 
ture  gain  its  end,  the  fecurity  of  the  citizen.  There 
is  a  circumftance  in  claflical  antiquity,  which  will 
fufficiently  inform  us  of  how  great  moment  thefc 
rites  were  efteemed.  Homer,  Sophocles,  and 
Euripides,  are  confeffed  to  be  the  greatell  ma- 
ilers of  their  art,  and  to  have  given  us  the  beft 
models  of  it.  Yet,  in  the  judgment  of  modern 
critics,  the  funeral  rites  for  Patroclus,  in  the  Iliadj 
and  for  Ajax  and  Polynices,  in  the  Ajax  and  the 
Phd'tticians,  are  a  vicious  continuation  of  the  fto- 
ry,  which  violates  the  unity  of  the  aftion.  But 
they  did  not  confider,  that  funeral  rites  were  an- 
ciently deemed  an  infeparable  part  of  the  he- 
ro's ftory :  And  therefore  thofe  great  mafters  of 
defign,  could  not  underftand  the  adion  to  be 
complete,  till  that  important  circum.ftancc  was 
adjufbed  '^. 

But  the  egyptian  Sage  found,  afterwards,  an- 
other ufe  in  this  opinion  •,  and  by  artfully  turning 
it  to  a  punifhment  on  infolvent  debtors,  (Irength- 
ened  public  credit,  to  the  great  advantage  of  com- 
merce, and  confequently  of  civil  community.  For, 
inftead  of  that  general  cuftom  of  modern  barbarians 
to  bury  infolvents  alive,  this  polite  and  humane 
people  had  a  law  of  greater  efficacy,  which  denied 
burial  to  them  when  dead.  And  here  the  learned 
'Marfham  feems  to  be  miflaken,  when  he  fuppofes, 
that  the  Grecian  opinion  of  the  wandering  of  un- 
buried  ghofts  arole  from  this  interdidionof  fepul- 
chral  rites  y.    On  the  contrary  it  appears,  that  the 

'^  YlocjTi^UJjai  oi  £T»  THTii!  ru  ]/ofA,ii)  TO- OS,  Tov  aiaoiiloc  To  ^S^f  «) 
etrrxcrr,:;  y^eeiv  "f  Ta  ?ia|M.tcivoi/'](^  B'lKviq'  Tai  Si  vir'Ai^ivli  raro  To  Ivi-r 
^vpov  ■vvivoe  £7r«vai  t;r,^^luj,   ju-r!  jSw^o^^'w  ^o«»ak  to  ■^^t©^,  [/.yi^I  uv- 

hx-^cii.    Herod,  lib.  ii.  cap    136. 

?  Ab  interdidas  apud  v^gyptios  fepulturse  pcen?,  inolevit 

law 


250  ^he  Divine  Legation    Book  II. 

law  was  founded  on  the  opinion,  originally  Egyp- 
tian, and  not  the  opinion  on  the  law  ;  for  the  law 
had  no  other  fandlion  than  the  opinion. 

In  a  word,  had  not  our  poet  conceived  it  a  mat- 
ter of  much  importance,  he  had  hardly  dwelt  fo 
long  upon  it,  or  returned  again  to  it  %  or  laid  fo 
much  ftrefs  on  it,  or  made  his  hero  fo  attentively 
confider  it : 
Conftitit  Anchifa  fatus,  &  veftigia  preifit, 

MULTA    PUTANS. 

But  having  added 

—-  Sortemque  animo  tniferatus  iniquam ; 
and  Servius  commented,  "  Iniqua  enim  fors  eft 
"  puniri  propter  alterius  negligentiam :  nee  enim 
**  quis  culpa  fua  caret  fepulchro ;  "  Mr,  Bayle 
cries  ouf,  *'  What  injuftice  is  this!  was  it  the 
**  fault  of  thefe  fouls,  that  their  bodies  were  not 
"  interred  ?  "  But  neither  of  them  knowing  the 
origin  of  this  opinion,  nor  feeing  its  ufe,  the  lat- 
ter afcribes  ibat  to  the  blindnefs  of  religion,  which 
was  the  ilTue  of  wife  policy.  Virgil,  by  hisy^rj 
iniqua,  means  no  more  than  that  in  this,  as  well  as 
in  feveral  other  civil  inftitutions,  a  public  benefit 
was  often  a  private  injury. 

The  next  thing  obfervable  is  the  ferry-man, 
Charon  ;  and  he,  the  learned  well  know,  was  a 
fubflantial  Egyptian  -,  and,  as  an  ingenious  writer 
fays,  fairly  exijiing  in  this  world  ''.  The  cafe  was 
plainly  thus :  the  Egyptians,  like  the  reft  of  man- 
kind, in  their  defcriptions  of  the  other  world,  ufed 
to  copy  from  fomething  they  were  well  acquainted 
with  in  this.  In  their  funeral  rites,  which,  as  v/e 
obferved,  was  a  matter  of  greater  moment  with 

apud  Graecos  opinio  infepultorum  corporum  animas  aCharontc 
non  effe  admiffas.    Canon  Chronicus,  Seculumxi.  §3. 

*  f  373>  &feq. 

a  Re/i)o'nf.  aux  ^ueft.  (TunProi'tncial,  p  iii.  cap.  Zl. 

^  Blackweli's  Life  of  Homer, 

the  in 


Sed:.  4'    ^  Moses  demonjirated.  251 

them  than  with  any  other  people,  they  ufed  to  carry 
their  dead  over  the  Nile,  and  through  the  marlh 
of  Acherufia,  and  there  put  them  into  Tubterraneous 
caverns  •,  the  ferry-man  employed  in  this  bufmefs 
being,  in  their  language,  called  Charon.  Now  in 
their  myjleries^  the  defcription  of  the  palTage  into 
the  other  world  was  borrowed,  as  was  natural,  from 
the  circumftances  of  their  funeral  rices.  And  it 
might  be  eafily  proved,  if  there  were  occafion, 
that  they  themfelves  transferred  thefe  realities  into 
the  MT0OS,  and  not  the  Greeks,  as  later  writers 
generally  imagine. 

Charon  is  appeafed  at  the  fight  of  the  golden  bough: 
Ille  admirans  venerabile  donum 

Fatalis  virgse,  longo  post  tempore  vilum. 
But  it  is  reprefented  as  the  pafsport  of  all  the  an- 
cient heroes  who  had  defcended  into  hell;  how 
ithen  could  it  be  faid  to  be  longo  pofi  te^npore  vifum^ 
^neas  being  fo  near  the  times  of  thofe  heroes  ?  To 
explain  this,  we  muft  have  in  mind  what  hath  been 
faid  above  of  a  perfecft  lawgiver's  being  held  out 
in  i^neas,  and  of  Auguftus's  being  delineated  in 
the  Trojan  chief.  So  that  here  Virgil  is  pointing 
to  his  mailer  •,  and  what  he  would  infmuate,  is, 
that  the  Roman  emperor,  initiated  in  the  Eleufi- 
fiian  rites,  fhould,  in  a  later  age,  rival  the  fame 
of  the  firft  Grecian  lawgivers. 

But  iEncas  hath  now  croffed  the  river,  and  is 
come  into  the  proper  regions  of  the  dead.     The 
iirft  apparition  that  occurs  is  the  dog  Cerberus : 
H^c  ingens  latratu  regna  trifauci 

Perfonat,  adverfo  recubans  immanis  in  antro. 

This  is  plainly  one  of  the  phantom.s  of  the  my- 
Jleries^  v/hich  Pletho  tells  us  above,  was  in  the 
ihape  of  a  dog,  >tuuw'J>;  T<va.  And  in  the  fable  of 
Herculcs's  defcent  into  hell,  which,  we  have  fliewn, 
fignified  no  more  that  his  initiation  into  the  myfie- 

ries^t 


252  'The  Divine  Legation    Book  II. 

ries,  it  is  faid  to  have  been,  amongfl:  other  things, 
for  fetching  up  the  dog  Cerberus. 

'J  he  prophetefs,  to  appeafe  his  rage,  gives  him 
a  medicated  cake,  which  cafts  him  into  a  {lumber : 

Cui  vates,  horrere  videns  jam  colla  colubris, 

Melle  foporatam  et  medicatis  frugibus  off  am 

Objicit. 
In  the  Myfteries  of  Trophonius  (who  was  faid  to 
be  nurfed  by  Ceres '',  that  is,  to  derive  his  rites 
from  the  Eleufmian)  the  Initiated  carried  the  fame 
fort  of  medicated  Cakes  to  appeafe  the  ferpents  he 
met  with  in  his  paffage  *=.  TertuUian,  who  gives 
all  myfteries  to  the  devil,  and  makes  him  the  author 
\  of  what  is  done  there,  mentions  the  offering  up  of 
thefe  cakes,  celebrat  et  pants  oblationem  ^.  This  in 
queftion  was  of  poppy-feed,  made  up  with  honey ; 
and  fo  I  underftand  medicatis  frugibus,  here,  on  the 
authority  of  the  poet  himfelf,  who,  in  the  fourth 
book,  makes  the  prieftefs  of  Venus  prepare  the 
fame  treat  for  the  dragon  who  guarded  the  Hefpe- 
rian  fruit : 

Spargens  humida  mella  foporiferumque  papaver. 
Honey,  as  we  have  (hewn  above,  was  facred  to  Pro- 
ferpine,  who  on  that  account  was  called  MfA<7w«J')jf ; 
and  the  poppy  was  confecrated  to  Ceres :  Cereale 
Papaver,  fays  Virgil  •,  on  which  words  Servius  thus 
comments  :  *'  Vel  quod  eft  ufui,  ficut  frumentum, 
*'  vel  quo  Ceres  ufa  eft  ad  oblivionem  doloris  j 
*'  nam  ob  raptum  Proferpinse  vigiliis  defatigata, 
"  guftato  eo  adla  eft  in  foporem  ^.'* 

But,  without  doubt,  the  images,  which  the  juice 
of  poppy  prefents  to  the  fancy,  was  one  reafon 
why  this  drug  had  a  place  in  the  ceremonial  of  the 

^  An'(x«1pt  —  Ta  T^o(pm\a  Ti)  r^o^ov.     Paufan.  Baeot.  C  39. 

Pki/of.  Vit.  Jpoll.  1.  viii.  c.  1  5, 

■*  Depne/cr.  adver.  bant.        *  Ad  lib.  i.  Ge^rg.  ^'212. 

ihews  I 


Se<fl.  4-     ofMo^-E^demonftrated,  253 

fhews :-  not  improbably,  it  was  given  to  fome  at 
leall  of  the  initiated^  to  aid  the  impreflion  of"  thofe 
myftic  vifions  which  pafled  before  them.  For  that 
fomething  Hke  this  was  done,  that  is,  giving  me- 
dicated drugs  to  the  afpirants,  we  are  informed  by 
Plutarch-,  who  fpeaks  of  a  fhrub  called  Leuco- 
phyllus  ufed  in  the  celebration  of  the  myfteries  of 
Hecate,  which  drives  men  into  a  kind  of  frenzy, 
and  makes  them  confefs  all  the  wickednefs  they 
had  done  or  intended.  And  confelTion  was  one 
neceflary  preparative  for  initiation. 

The  regions,  according  to  Virgil's  geography, 
are  divided  into  three  parts:  i.  Purgatory. 
«.  Tartarus.  3.  Elysium.  For  Deiphobus  in 
the  firft  fays, 

Difcedam,ExpLEEo  numerum  reddarque  tenebris^. 
And  in  the  fecond  it  is  faid  of  Thefeus, 

Sedet,  iETERNUMque  fedebit 
Infelix  Thefeus.  — 

The  wyjieries  divided  them  in  the  fame  manner. 
So  Plato,  in  the  pafTages  quoted  above  (where, 
he  fpeaks  of  what  was  taught  in  the  myjieries)  talks 
of  fouls  flicking  fall  in  mire  and  filth,  and  re- 
maining in  darknefs,  till  a  long  feries  of  years  had 
purged  and  purified  them,  and  Celfus,  in  Origen  ", 
fays,  that  the  Myfteries  taught  the  dodrine  of  eter- 
Tial  punilhments. 

Of  all  the  three  States  this  of  Tartarus  only 
was  eternal.  There  was,  indeed,  another,  in  the 
ancient  pagan  theology,  which  had  the  fame  rela- 
tion to  Elyfium,  that  Tartarus  had  to  Purgatory, 
the  extreme  of  reward,  as  Tartarus  of  punifliment. 
But  then  this  ftate  was  not  in  the  infernal  regi- 
ons, but  in  Heaven.  Neither  was  it  the  lot  of  com-     , 

^  But  the  nature  and  end  of  this  purgatory  the  poet  defcribes 
at  large,  from  ;^  736,  to  ;^  745. 
2  See  note  {')  p.  185.  ^  See  note  (')  p,  199. 

I  mon 


254  ^^^  Divine  Legation    Book  H^ 

mon  humanity^  but  referved  for  heroes  and  d.^mons  5 
Beings,  of  an  order  fuperior  to  men,  fuch  as  Her- 
cules, Bacchus,  &c.  who  became  Gods  on  their 
admiffion  into  that  ftate,  where  the  eternity  was  in 
confequence  of  their  deification. 

Cicero  diftinguiflies  the  two  orders  of  fouls,  ac- 
cording to  the  vulgar  Theology,  in  this  manner* 
"  Quid  autem  ex  hominum  genere  confecratos, 
''  ficut  Herculem  &  CfEteros  coli  lex  jubet,  indicat 
"  omnium  qmdtxn  ammo  s  imm  or  tales  tK&',  fortium 
''  BONORUP/iQUE  DiviNos  '."  But  this  has  nothing. 
to  do  with  the  general  doctrine  of  rewards  and  pu- 
nifhment  in  a  future  ftate,  as  taught  in  the  'myjle-ries^ 

And  here  it  is  to  our  purpofe  to  obferve,  that 
the  Virtues  and  Vices,  which  flock  thefe  three  di- 
vifions  with  inhabitants,  are  fuch  as  more  imme^ 
diately  affeft  fociety.  A  plain  proof  that  the  poet 
followed  the  views  of  theLegiflator,  the  inftitutor 
of  the  Myfteries. 

Purgatory,  the  firfl  divifion,  is  inhabited  by 
fuicides,  extravagant  lovers^  and  ambitious  warriors : 
And,  in  a  word,  by  all  thofe  who  had  indulged 
the  violence  of  their  paflions  j  which  made  them 
rather  miferable  than  vvicked.  It  is  remarkable 
that  amongft  thefe  we  find  one  of  the  initiated : 

Cererique  facrum  Polybceten. 
This  was  agreeable  to  the  public  doftrine  of  the 
Myfteries,  which  taught,  that  initiation  with  virtue 
procured  men  great  advantages  over  others,  in  a 
future  flate  j  but  that  without  virtue^  it  was  of  no 
fervice. 

Of  all  thefe  diforders,  the  poet  hath  more  di- 
flin6lly  marked  out  the  mifery  of  Suicide. 
.  Proxima  deinde  tenent  mosfti  loca,  qui  fibi  lethum 
Infontes  peperere  manu,  lucemque  perofi 

'  De  lifgg.  lib.  ii.  cap.  12. 

4  Pre- 


Se£l.  4.    o/*  M  o  s  E  s  demonfirateL         255 

Projecere  animas.  Quam  vellent  aethere  in  alto 
Nunc  &  pauperiem  &  duros  perferre  labores ! 
Here  he  keeps  clofs  to  the  mylleries ;  which  not 
only  forbad  fuicide,  but  taught  on  what  account  it 
was  criminal.  "  That  which  is  faid  in  the  my- 
**  STERIES  (fays  Plato)  concerning  thefe  matters 
'*  of  man's  being  placed  in  a  certain  watch  or 
"  ftation,  which  it  is  unlawful  to  fly  from,  or 
"  forfake,  is  a  profound  dodlrine,  and  not  eafily 
«  fathomed"." 

^  'O  f*ei/  Sv  Of  AnOPPHTOlS  7,iyo(JSifj<^  /cfet  auTuv  ^oy©-,  w?  h 
Tjf»  <p§ap«  EO-fAEH  01  avG^wTTot  xj  8  ^H  ^Yi  idvlov  Ik  ruurvii;  Xvhv,  sii* 
im)^i^^(7xeiv,  (Atycti;  r  T»;  fAof  (pocivi^  hJ  t?  ^a'Jt©-  ^uSeHv     Pheei,  p. 

62.  Ser.  ed-  torn.  i.  The  very  learned  Mr.  Dacier  tranflates 
Iv  ^^'a^TOK,  dans  les  myjieres  ;  and  this  agreeably  to  his  know- 
ledge of  antiquity.  For  aVo^'^ijIa  was  ufed  by  the  ancients,  to 
fignify  not  only  the  grand  iecret  taught  in  the  myfteriee,  but 
the  myfteries  themfelves ;  as  appears  from  innumerable  places 
in  their  writings.  Yet  the  French  tranllator  of  PufFendorf 's 
ha'w  of  nature  and  nations,  lib.  ii.  cap.  4.  §  19.  note(i),  ac- 
cufes  him  of  not  underllanding  his  author :  "  Mr.  Dacier  fait 
**  dire  a  Platon  que  Von  tenoit  torn  les  jours  ces  difcours  au  peuple 
**  dans  les  cere?nonies  iS'  dans  les  mvjieres.  II  feroit  a  fouhaiter 
•*  qu'il  eut  allegue  quelque  autorite  pour  etablir  un  fait  fi  re- 
*'  marquable.  Mais  il  s'agit  ici  manifellement  des  inftrudlions 
**  fecretes  que  les  Pythagoriciens  donnoient  a  leurs  initiez,  & 
*'  lefquelles  ils  decouvroient  les  raifons  les  plus  abftrufes,  &  les 
"  plus  particuliers  des  dogmes  deleur  philofophie.  Ces  inftru- 
*'  ftions  cachees  s'appelloient  aTro^'f^da  —  Ce  que  Platon  dit  un 
*'  peu  auparavant  de  Philolaus,  philofophe  Pythagoricien,  ne 
**  permit  pas  de  douter  que  la  raifon,  qu'il  rapporte  ici  comme 
**  trop  abllrufe  &  difficile  a  comprendre,  ne  foit  celle  que  don- 
*'  noient  les  Pythagoriciens."  He  fays,  //  iioere  to  be^ipedDa- 
cier  had  fome  authority  for  fo  remarkable  a  fa£i.  He  hath  this 
very  pafTage,  which  is  fuificientj  for  the  word  uttu^^viIx  can 
mean  no  other  than  the  myfteries.  But  thofe  who  want  further 
authority,  may  have  enough  of  it,  in  the  nature  and  end  of  the 
mylleries,  as  explained  above. —  He  fays,  "  It  is  evident,  Plato 
**  is  here  talking  of  the  fecret  inftruftions  which  the  Pythago- 
"  reans  gave  to  their  initiated,  in  which  they  difcovered  their 
"  moft  abftrufe  and  particular  doctrines."  This  cannot  be  fo, 
for  a  very  plain  reafon.  The  philofophy  of  the  Pythagoreans, 
like  that  of  the  other  fefls,  was  divided  into  the  exoterical  and 
efoterkal'y  the  open,  taught  to  all  j  and  the  fecret,  taught  to  a 

Hitherto 


25^  ^he  Divine  Legation     Book  II, 

Hitherto  all  goes  well.     But  what  mull  we  fay 
to  the  poet's  putting  new-horn  infants^  and  men 
fcilfely  condemned^   into  his  purgatory  ?  For  though 
ih^  faith  and  inquifition  of  modern  Rome  fend  ma- 
ny of  both  forts  into  a  place  of  punifhment,  yet 
the  genius  of  ancient  paganifm  had  a  gentler  afpe6t. 
It- is,  indeed,  difficult  to  tell  what  thefe  inmates 
have  to  do  here.     Let  us  confider  the  cafe  of  the 
infants  \   and  if  we  find  it  can  only  be  cleared  up 
by  the  general  view  of  things  here  offered,  this 
will  be  confidered  as  another  argument  for  the 
truth  of  our  interpretation. 
Continuo  audita  voces^  vagitus  et  ingens, 
Infantumque  animas  fientes  in  limine  primo : 
Quos  dulcis  vitse  exortes,  &  ab  ubere  raptos 
Abftulitatra  dies,  ^funere  merfit  acerbo. 

felefl  number.  But  the  impietf  of  fuicide  was  in  the  firft  clafs, 
as  a  dodlrine  ferviceable  to  fociety  :  "  Vetatque  Pythagoras  in- 
"  juflu  imperatoris,  id  eft,  Dei,  de  prsefidio  &  ftatione  vitae  de- 
*'  cedere,"  fays  Tally,  in  his  book  Of  old  age ;  who,  in  his 
Dream  of  Sa'p:o,  written  in  the  exoteric  way,  condemnsyi</aV^ 
for  the  very  fame  reafon  :  but  in  an  epiftle  to  a  particular  friend, 
•which  certainly  was  of  the  efoteric  kind,  he  approves  of  it; 
*'  Ceteriquidem,  Pompeius,  Lentulus  tuus,  Scipio,  Afranius, 
**  fcede  perierunt.  At  Cato  pr^clare.  Jam  iftuc  quidera, 
**  cum  volemus,  licebit."  lib.  ix.  ep.  i8.  It  could  not  be, 
therefore,  chat  the  impiety  oi fuicide  fhould  be  reckoned  amongft 
the  ai'K'^llvi»  of  philofophy,  fince  it  was  one  of  their  popular 
doctrines.  But  this  will  be  fuller  feen,  when  we  come  to  Ipeak 
of  the  philofophers,  in  the  next  book.  Mr.  Barbeyrac  con- 
cludes, that  "  as  Plato  had  fpoke  of  Philolaus  a  little  before, 
**  it  cannot  be  doubted  but  that  he  fpeaks  of  the  reafon  againft 
**  fuicide,  as  a  doftrine  of  the  Pythagorean  philofophy."  What 
lias  been  faid  above,  utterly  excludes  this  interpretation.  But 
though  it  did  not,  there  is  nothing  in  the  context  which  fliews, 
Plato  thought  of  Philolaus  in  this  place.  It  is  allowed,  this 
was  a  doftrine  of  the  Pytfagoric  fchool,  though  not  of  the  efo- 
teric kind.  The  Myfteries,  and  that,  held  a  number  of  things 
in  common;  this  has  been  ihewn,  in  part,  already;  and  when 
we  come  to  fpeak  of  Pythagoras,  it  will  be  feen  how  it  hap- 
pened. 

Thefe 


Sed.  4.     of  Moses  demonjlrated.  257 

Thefe  appear  to  have  been  the  cries  and  lamentings 
that,  Proclus  tells  us,  were  heard  in  the  Myfteries'. 
So  that  we  only  want  to  know  the  original  of  fo 
extraordinary  a  circumftance.  Which,  I  take,  to 
have  been  juil  fuch  another  provifion  of  the  law- 
giver for  the  lecurity  of  infancy,  as  that  about 
funeral  rites  was  for  the  adult.  For  nothing  could 
more  engage  parents  in  the  care  and  prefer- 
vation  of  their  young,  than  fo  terrible  a  dodrine. 
Nor  are  we  to  imagine,  that  their  natural  fond- 
nefs  nee<led  no  inforcement,  or  fupport :  for  that 
mod  degenerate  and  horrid  pradice  among  the 
ancients,  of  exposing  infants,  was  univerfal"" ; 
and  had  almoft  erafed  morality  and  inftin£t.  St. 
Paul  feems  to  have  had  this  in  his  eye,  when  he 
accufed  the  pagan  world  of  being  without  natural 
affection  ".  It  needed  therefore  the  ftrongeft  and  fe- 
vereft  check  :  and  I  am  well  perfuaded  it  occafi^ 
oned  this  counterplot  of  the  magiftrate,  in  order  to 
give  inftind  fair  play,  and  call  back  baniflied  na- 
ture. Nothing,  indeed,  could  be  more  worthy  of 
his  care :  for  the  deiLru(Si:ion  of  children,  as  Peri- 

'  Ka;  T&K  /-(.vrw^Ioi?  t^O-  |rx,t)ri*'^;  ©rFNOYT  f^ffjxj;  OT«fe(>.5j^a"> 
ft;!/.     \n  Comment,  in  Platonis  Remp.  lib.  X. 

"^  Wc  may  well  judge  it  to  be  fo,  when  we  find  it  amongft  the 
Chinese  (fee  M.  Polo.  lib.  ii.  cap.  26.)  and  the  Ara  bians, 
the  two  people  leaft  corrupted  by  foreign  manners,  and  the  vi- 
cious culloms  of  more  civilized  nations.  The  Arabians,  par- 
ticularly, living  much  in  a  ftate  of  nature,  where  mens  wants 
are  few,  and  confequcntly  where  there  is  fmall  temptation  to 
ti.is  unnatural  crime,  yet  were  become  fo  prone  to  it,  that  their 
lawgiver  Mahomet  found  it  necefiary  to  ty.s.&.  an  oath  of  the^ 
Arabian  women,  not  to  deftroy  their  children.  The  form  of 
this  oath  is  given  us  by  Gagnier,  in  his  notes  on  Abel-feda's 
Life  of  Mahcmet,  and  it  is  in  thefe  words  ;  "  —  Ne  deo  rem 
''  uUam  affocient ;  ne  furentur ;  ne  fornictntur  ;  n  E  M  n  e  R  05 
"  suos  occiDANT  [mctu  paupcrtatis  uti  habetur  5«>  vi,  }^ 
"  i^i.]  neque  inobedientes  fint  Apoflolo  Dci^  in  ea  qucd 
"  jultum  eft."  p.  41,  n.  (a) 

"   I  Cor.  i.  31. 

Vol.  I.  S  cks 


2^8  The  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

cles  finely  obferved  of  youth,  is  like  cutting  off  the 
fpring  from  the  year.  Accordingly  we  are  told  by 
DiodoruSj  that  the  Egyptians  had  a  law  °  againft 
this  unnatural  pradice,  which  law  he  numbers  a- 
mongft  the  fingularities  of  that  people.  "  They 
"  are  obliged  (fays  he)  to  bring  up  all  their  chil- 
"  dren,  in  order  to  render  the  country  popu- 
*'  lous,  this  being  efteemed  the  beft  means  of  ma- 
"  king  Hates  flourifhing  and  happy  ■"."  And  Ta- 
citus fpeaks  of  the  prohibition  as  no  lefs  fmgular 
amongft  the  Jews  :  "  AugendjE  multitudini  con- 
"  fulitur.  Nam  &  necare  quenquam  ex  gnatis, 
"nefas^" 

Here    again   Mr.  Bayle  is  much  fcandalized : 
"  The  firft  thing  which  occurred,  on  tlie  entrance 

o  The  Egyptian  laws  were  fald  to  have  been  of  Ifis's  own  ap- 
pointment. This  will  fhew  us  with  what  j  udgment  and  addrefs 
Ovid  has  told  the  tale  of  Lidgus  the  Cretan,  in  his  Metmnor- 
phof,s%  (of  the  nature  and  art  of  which  compofition  more  will 
be  obferved  hereafter.)  Lidgus  (in  the  ix^''  book,  fab.  12.) 
is  reprefented  as  commanding  his  pregnant  wife  Telethufa,  to 
deftroy  the  expected  infant,  if  it  proved  a  female.  Yet  is  this 
Cretan  thus  characterized, 

vita  fidesque 

Inculpata  fuit  — - 
His  wife,  however,  as  common  as  fuch  a  command  was,  and 
as  indifferent  as  it  was  efteemed,  is  much  alarmed  with  the  ap- 
preheniion  of  falling  into  the  cruel  fituation  of  being  obliged  to 
execute  it.  In  this  diftrefs  Ifis  appears  to  Telethufa  in  a  dream, 
promifes  her  afliftance,  and  orders  her  to  deceive  her  hulband, 
and  bring  up  whatever  fhe  fhould  be  delivered  of. 

Pone  graves  curas,  mandataque  faile  mariti  j 

Nee  dubita,  cum  te  partu  Lucina  levarit, 

Tollere  quicquid  erit 

The  moral  of  the  tale  is  this.  That  Egypt  had  oppofed  very 
wife  and  humane  laws  to  the  horrid  practice  of  infanticide,  now 
become  general,  and  continuing  unchecked  by  all  other  civil 
inftitutions, 

y^  ■zro'fo.'v.    Lib.  i.     H'ljlor. 
«.  Tacit.  Hiji.  lib.  v. 

i  "  into 


Se<Si.  4.     of  Moses  demonjirated,  2 59 

"  into  the  other  world,  was  the  ftation  afligned  to 
"  infants,  who  cried  and  lamented  without  ceaf- 
*'  ing  i  and  next  to  that,  the  ftation  of  men  un- 
"  juftly  condemned  to  death.  Now  what  could 
"  be  more  fhocking  or  fcandalous  than  the  punifli- 
"  ment  of  thofe  httle  creatures,  who  had  yet  com- 
"  mitted  no  fm,  or  of  thofe  perfons  whofe  inno- 
"  cence  had  been  oppreffed  by  calumny  '  ?  "  The 
iirft  difRculty  is  already  cleared  up  :  the  fecond 
fhall  be  confidered  by  and  by.  But  it  is  no  won- 
der Mr.  Bayle  could  not  digeft  this  do6lrinc  of  the 
infants;  for  I  am  much  miftaken,  if  it  did  not  ftick 
with  Plato  himfelf  •,  who,  relating  the  Vifion  of  E- 
rus,  the  Pamphylian^  concerning  the  diftribution  of 
rewards  and  punifhments  in  another  life,  when  he 
comes  to  the  condition  of  infants,  paffes  it  over  in 
thefe  words  :  —  "  But  of  children  who  died  in  their 
"  infancy,  he  reported  certain  other  things  not 

"  WORTHY  TO  BE  REMEMBRED^."    ErUS's  aCCOUnt 

of  what  he  faw  in  another  world,  was  a  fummary  of 
v/hat  the  Egyptians  taught  in  their  myfteries  con- 
cerning that  matter.  And  I  make  no  doubt  but  the 
thing  not  worthy  to  be  remembered^  was  the  doftrine 
o{  infants  in  purgatory :  which  appears  to  have  given 
Plato  much  fcandal,  who  did  not,  at  that  time 
at  leaft,  refleft  upon  its  original  and  ufe. 

But  now,  as  to  the  falfely  condemned^  we  m.ull 
feek  another  folution  : 

^  La  premiere  chofe  que  Ton  rencontroit  a  Tentree  des  En-, 
fers,  etoit  la  ftation  des  petits  enfans,  qui  ne  cefibient  de  pleu- 
rer,  &  puis  celle  des  perfonnes  injuftement  condamnees  a  la 
mort.  Qnoi  de  plus  choquant,  de  plus  fcandaleux,  que  la  peine 
de  ces  petites  creatures,  qui  n'avoient  encore  commis  nul  pe- 
che;  ou  que  la  peine  de  ceux,  dont  I'innocence  avoit  ete  op- 
primee  par  la  calomnie.  Rifpo7iJ.  aux  ^a>Jl.  d'un  Prc-v.  p.  3. 
cap.  xxii. 

'   Twv  6i  tlCfii-s'   '^^o'^uuv,   Kj  cT^iy^v  ^ovov  ^nsvluv  'C%<  aKKa,  'k'Ki'yii 

OYK  AHIA  MNHMHi'.   De  rep.  lib.  x.  p.  615.  Serr,  edit. 

S    2  Hos 


26o  Jhe  Divine  Legation      Book  IL 

Hos  juxta,  falfo  damnati  crimine  mortis  j 
Nee  vero  h«  fine  forte  dats,  fine  judice  fedes. 
Quasfitor  Minos  urnam  movet :  ille  filentum 
Confiliumque  vocat,  vitasque  &  crimina  difcit. 
This  defignment  appears  bcth  iniquitous  and  ab- 
furd.  The  falfcly  accufed*^  are  not  only  in  a  place 
of  punifhment,  but,  being  firil  delivered  under 
this  fingle  predicament,  they  are  afterwards  diftin- 
guiflied  into  two  forts  •,  Ibme  as  blameable,  others 
as  innocent.  To  clear  up  this  confufion,  it  will 
be  neccifary  to  tranfcribe  an  old  flory,  told  by  Plato 
in  his  Gorgias  :  "  This  law,  concerning  mortals, 
"  was  enafled  in  the  time  of  Saturn,  and  is  yet, 
**'  and  ever  will  be,  in  force  amongft  the  Gods ; 
"  that  he  who  had  lived  a  juft  and  pious  life,  fliould 
"  at  his  death  be  carried  into  the  iflands  of  the 
*'  blcffed,  and  there  poiTefs  all  kinds  of  happinefs, 
"  untainted  with  the  evils  of  mortality  :  but  that 
*'  he  who  had  lived  unjuftly  and  impioufly,  fhould 
*'  be  thrufl  into  a  place  of  punifliment,  the  prifort 
"  of  divine  juftice,  called  Tartarus.  Now  the 
"  judges,  with  whom  the  execution  of  this  law  was 
**  intrufted,  were,  in  the  time  ot  Saturn,  and  un- 
*'  der  the  infancy  of  Jove's  government,  living  men, 
**  fitting  in  judgment  on  the  lining  -,  and  pafling  fen- 
"  tence  on  them,  upon  the  day  of  their  dcceafc. 
"  This  gave  occafion  to  unjuft  judgments  :  on 
"  which  account,  Pluto,  and  thofe  to  whom  the 
"  care  of  the  happy  iflands  was  committed,  went 
"  to  Jupiter,  and  told  him,  that  men  cam.e  to  them 
"  wrongfully  judged^  bcth  when  acquitted  and  when 
*'  condemned.  To  which  the  Father  of  the  Gods 
*'  thus  replied  :  I  will  put  a  ftop  to  this  evil.  Thefe 
*'  wrong  judgments  are  partly  occafioned  by  the 
"  corporeal  covering  of  the  perfons  judged  -,  for 

'  Serviur,  on  the  place,  charaderizes  diem  in  this  manner  — 
''  qui  fibi  per  finiplicitattm  adcfic  nequivi^runt."' 

"  tliey 


Se6t.  4.      of  Mo s-Es  dcmonjlrated,  26 1 

*■'  they  are  tried  while  living :  now  many  have  their 
"  corrupt  minds  hid  under  a  fair  outfide,  adorned 
"  with  birth  and  riches  ;  and,  when  they  come  to 
"  their  trial,  have  witnelles  at  hand,  to  teftity  for 
"  their  good  life  and  converfation  -,  this  perverts  the 
"  procefs,  and  blinds  the  eyes  of  juftice.  Befides, 
■"  the  judges  themfelves  are  encumbered  with  the 
*'  fame  corporeal  covering  :  and  eyes  and  ears,  and 
"  an  impenetrable  tegument  of  flefli,  hinder  the 
"  mind  from  a  free  exertion  ot  its  taculties.  All 
*•'  thefe,  as  well  their  ov/n  covering,  as  the  cover- 
*'  ing  of  thofe  they  judge,  are  bars  and  obftacles  to 
"  right  judgment.  In  the  firft  place  then,  fays  he, 
'*  we  are  to  provide  that  the  fore-knowledge  which 
"  they  now  have  of  the  day  of  death,  be  taken 
"  away :  and  this  fhall  be  given  in  charge  to  Pro- 
**  metheus  ;  and  then  provide,  that  they  who  come 
*'  to  judgment,  be  quite  naked '' :  for  from  hence- 
"  forth  they  fhall  not  be  tried,  till  they  come  into 
"  the  other  world.  And  as  they  are  to  be  thus 
"  dripped,  it  is  but  fit  their  judges  fliould  await 
*'  them  there  in  the  fame  condition ;  that,  at  the 
"  arrival  of  every  new  inhabitant,  foul  may  look  on 
"  foul,  and  all  family  relation,  and  every  worldly 
*'  ornament  being  dropt  and  left  behind,  righteous 
"  judgment  may  at  length  take  place.  I,  there- 
"  fore,  who  forefaw  all  thefe  things,  before  you 
"  felt  them,  have  taken  care  to  conftitute  my  own 
"  fons,. the  judges :  two  of  them,  Minps  aqd  Rha- 
*'  damanthus,  are  Afiatics  •,  the  third,  JEacus,  an 
"  European,  Thefe,  when  they  die,  fhall  have 
*'  their  tribunal  erefted  in  the  fl:iades,  juji  in  that 
"  part  of  the  highway,  where  the  two  roads  divide, 

^'  This  evidently  refers  to  the  old  Egyptian  cuftom,  whei> 
the  judges  beheld  and  examined  their  kings  naked  ;  arw  k^  o 

?v;«.  Horapollinis  Hierogl.  lib.  i.  cap.  40. 

'S  3  the 


262  'The  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

'«  the  one  leading  to  the  happy  iHands,  the  other 
"  to  Tartarus.  Rhadan:ianthus  fhall  judge  the 
"  Afiatics,  and  /Eacus  the  Europeans ;  but  to  Mi- 
*'  nos  I  giv'e  the  fuperior  authority  of  hearing  ap- 
"  peals,  when  any  thing  obfcure  or  difficult  Ihall 
"  perplex  the  others'  judgments ;  that  every  one 
*'  may  have  his  abode  affigned  him  with  the  utmoft 
"  equity"'." 

The  matter  now  begins  to  clear  up  \  and  we  fee 
plainly,  that  the  circumftance  of  the  falfely  con- 
demned alludes  to  this  old  fable  :  fo  that  by  falfo 

\v  Ssor?*  rZv  diQfuiruv  tov  (/.tv  anicciui  ^  jSiov  dn7\Qovlsc  kJ  la-'iciii,  Itth- 
^av  Ti^.^lyicrV',  £K  fn-ctxtxquv  vjjira?  u'Trkovlci,  ohaTv  h  'mcia-zi  <}0'^«f/x.')i';« 
IxTo?  xxxuv'  Tov  Si  a.OiKU<;  x^  afifojf,  ei?  to  rrji;  TitrEW?  t  x^  ^.;£vjj  ^tcr- 
uulnpiov,  0  c\  fd^ccpov  xa>v8<rii',    Uvact,    Tarwv  at  tfixara*  ewi  V^fiva,  x^ 

oixsc^^tlii  V  /xsAA^iEi'  riMviav'  Komu^  ui/  ul  I'iKcci  iKpivo/lo.  "Ots  yx 
HAaTwi/  yj  ci  o^^//'£^■/i^a»  ix.  (jt,xxu^uv  v/iauv  \oi\ic,  tT^Byov  'mpo<;  Ton  Ala, 
oTt  (pa^oiiv  c(f\)i  oiiQ^cJTToi  li'.cilB^uai  ccm^ioi,  tlirtv  iv  0  Z<iQ(;,  'AT^x'  lyta 
(e^*))  'sjxva-u  7iiTo  yifvof/^pii/'  hmj  [H,iv  ya^  xaxu^  act  oixcx-i  ^nca^cUcci. 
di^irsyJfjS^ci  yct^  (^ipii)  ol  xpvofAEvoj  y.p\\ov\on'  ^u'jIk;  ytx.^  Xfi-.ovlaif 
TloXXoi  iv  ■^v)(oi<;  'BTOVYipa.i;  s^ovIej,  7j^(pua'/,vjrji  t\ai  aujx-xlx  r  Ka,'kot, 
xj  ■)^'u  kJ  'n77vSTS;'  xj  iTrstoai'  53  y^'nm  ri,  sfp^cvlon  ojiJtok  'ro'o7.>,oi  fca'p- 
Vvfi;,  u-aplvfricra-^sg  a);  ^t^^aiwj  (Sstiwxacru'.  0»  av  di;iar«'  t^TTo  t  ra- 
mv  IxTrMTloilxt,  >^  uiA.ci>^  avToi  a/ATTE^sfytEfoi  d'l^a^atn,  'CTiJo  t^;  ij/u- 
%'!?  Tj;f  aJrwv  oifOaTif^a;  xj  cJra  Xj  i'Xov  to  aa^cc  la^oK.ixa.ywfu^ivcn' 
Tcc^To.  S\  avToTg  ijuilce,  eTrWpocJEv  yiyi/fiai,  x^  ra  ccvtuv  a,^<pUayjCtioiy 
iC  T«  Twii  xg^ivoyuivuv.  TlfuTov  j/Av  ^'J  {i(pio)  TcrccvTi^v  It)  'oJpoeiS6Ta<;  ctv- 
Ta?  Toy  Savalov'  nu/  ya^ -nr^oi'a-acrt'  raro  jxep  af  xJ  dvj  Ei^^r.lai  t«  n^o- 
ft»;8£r,  67rw;  av  -EratiV^  ccvtuv'  iTireilcc  yvuvm  Xfilirjv  a.7rui]uv  reruv' 
teCVewto;;  yx^  oti  xgUt^cn'  x^  rav  xpC\-0  diT  yvijLvoi  pQ,  nQi/suTa,,  avry) 
Tri  •^v^r,  ccvir,])  Tr,'j  \|/t;p/-/jv  Ssw^avTa,  <Jc,Si'.(pv:',q  ccao^uvfjiloc  Ixcii-a,  i'^in- 
(Aov  Tudvluii  ruv  ovyjtvuiv'  xaluXi'Trofla,  'mi,  t>5;  yrjj  tsci^ot,  Ixitvov  Tov 
xiapkov,  hoc  oixaicc  :•?  xpiai^  17.  'Eyu  jtt  av  ravroe,  lyvuxo)^  "jt^ote^®' 
«  iipiW,  iTTotno'ezijluj  Oixx^az  V-"?  iy^ccvja'  avo  /u  ex  tr,q  Ac-;a?,  MIi^w 
T  y2  'Pa.Scc[Act.vQMj'  hoc.  o£  ex  tvj?  Ev'^uTTTnc,  Alccxov.  Our  »  ax  sTre-iodr 
teXivlriaucrt,  oixuaaa-iv  In  tw  XapAavi,  in  rv)  rfio&u},  e|  55?  (pi^ilon  ru 
o^co,  >)  jfct  £t;  ^'xxapuv  vviffnq,  >j  i5''  £K  rd^x^ov'  x^  Ta?  jti  Ix  t?;  'Aaiai; 
'Pa^ap.ai6t;;  xftvE*",  TsO  iJ'e  ex  tvj?  'Evpccirw  Ai'axo?.  Mii/iJ  oe  'w^zaQticc 
^cijaii),  cnniiXKflveiv,  lav  ri  ))jrt) Q'^yvov  Tt  tu  s'^e^ti',  ha,  cu^  otxcuoldry)  i 
yoi^a;   ^   fr^i   t^j  Ciropekaj  T^rj  asOgwVcJs,     Toui.   i,  p.  523-  Serr. 

damnaii 


Sed,  4«     ?/  Moses  demonjlrated.  263 

damnati  crimine  mortis  (if  it  be  tlie  true  reading) 
Virgil  did  not  mean,  as  one  would  fiippofe,  in- 
mcentes  addiofi  morti  ob  injujiam  calumniam,  but  ho- 
mines indigne  et  perperam  adjudicati  •,  not  men  falfely 
condemned,  but  vjrongfully  judged,  whether  to  ac- 
quittal or  convidlionj  but  condemnation  being  of- 
teneft  the  lentence  of  juftice,  the  greater  part  is  put 
figuratively  for  the  whole. 

He  who  thinks  this  too  licentious  a  figure,  will 
perhaps  be  inclined  to  believe,  that  the  poet  might 
write 

Hos  juxta,  falfo  damnati  tempore  mortis; 
which  not  only  points  up  to  the  fable,  but  hints 
at  the  original  of  it ;  and  befides,  agrees  beft 
with  the  context.  But  as  the  words  tempore 
mortis  are  only  to  be  explained  by  this  palTage 
of  Plato,  a  tranfcriber  might  be  eafily  tempt- 
ed to  change  them  to  fomething  more  intelli- 
gible. 

One  difficulty  only  remains  ;  and  that,  to  confefs 
the  truth,  hath  arifen  rather  from  a  miftake  of  Vir- 
gil, than  of  his  reader.     We  find  thefe  people  yet 
unjudged,  already  fixed  with   other  criminals  in 
the  affigned  diftrift  of  purgatory.     But  they  are 
mifplaced,   through   an    overfight  of  the    poet; 
which,  had  he  lived  to  perfect  the  Mneis,  he  would 
probably  have  corre6lcd :  for  the  fable  tells  us  they 
Ihould  be  ftationed  on  the  borders  of  the  three  divi- 
fions,  in  that  part  of  the  high  road  that  divides  it- 
felf  in  two,  which  lead  to  Tartarus  and  Elyfium, 
thus  defcribed  by  the  poet. 
Hie  locus  eft,  partes  ubi  fe  via  findit  in  ambas, 
Dextera,  qujE  Ditis  magni  fub  moenia  tendit : 
Hie  iter  Elyfium  nobis  •,  at  Iseva  malorum 
Exercet  pcenas,  &  ad  impia  Tartara  mittit. 
It  only  remains  to  confider  the  origin  or  moral  of 
the  fable  i  which,  I  think,  was  this :  it  was  anEgy- 

S  4  ptian. 


264  ^he  Divine  Legation      Book  II. 

ptian  cuflom,  as  we  are  told  byDiodorus  Sicuhis,  for 
judges  to  fit  on  every  man's  life,  at  his  interment ; 
to  examine  his  pad  a6tions,  and  to  condemn  and 
acquit  according  to  the  evidence  before  them. 
Thefe  judges  were  of  the  priefthood  •,  and  fo,  it  is 
probable,  taught,  like  the  priefts  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  that  their  decrees  were  ratified  in  the  other 
world.  Partiality  and  corruption  would,  in  time, 
pervert  their  fentence  •,  and  fpite  and  favour  pre- 
vail over  juftice  :  As  this  might  fcandaiize  the  peo- 
ple, it  would  be  found  neceffary  to  teach,  that  the 
fentence  which  influenced  every  one's  final  doom, 
was  referved  for  a  future  judicature.  However, 
the  prieft  took  care  that  all  fliould  not  go  out  of 
his  hands  •  and  when  he  could  be  no  lonQcr  judge, 
he  contrived  to  find  his  account  in  turning  evidence-^ 
as  may  be  feen  by  the  fingular  call  of  this  ancient 
infcription  :  "  Ego  Sextus  Anicius  Pontifex  tes- 
*'  TOR  honefte  hunc  vixiffe  :  manes  ejus  inveniant 
"  quietem'^." 

How  much  this  whole  matter  needed  explaining, 
we  may  fee  by  what  a  fine  writer  makes  ot  it,  in 
a  difcourfe  written  to  illuftrate  TEneas's  defcent  in- 
to hell :  "  There  are  three  kinds  of  perfons  (fays 
'•'  he)  defcribed  as  being fituated  on  the  borders;' 
*'  and  I  can  give  no  reafon  for  their  being  ftation- 
"  ed  there  in  fo  particular  a  manner,  but  becaule 
"  none  of  them  feem  to  have  had  a  proper  right 
"  to  a  place  among  the  dead,  as  not  having  run 
*-^  out  the  thread  of  their  days,  and  finiilied  the 
"  term  of  life  that  had  been  allotred  them  upon 
^'-  earth.  The  firft  of  thefe  are  the  fouls  of  infants, 
'•  who  are  fnatched  away  by  untimely  ends;  the 
*'  fecond  arc  of  thofe  who  are  put  to  death  wrong- 
«■'  fully,  and  by  an  unjuft  fentence  ;  and  the  third, 

^  Fabins  Celfus  hroit't.  Antij.  lib.  iii. 

^^  of 


Se6l.  4-       of  Moses  dcmonjlrated.  265 

'*  of  thofe  who  grew  weary  of  their  Hves,  and  kid 
*'  violent  hands  upon  themfelvesy.'* 

After  this,  follow  theepifodes  of  Dido  and  Dcj"~ 
phobus,  in  imitation  of  Homer;  where  we  find 
nothing  to  our  purpofc,  but  the  ftrange  defcription 
of  Deiphobus  ■,  whofe  mangled  phantom  is  drawn 
according  to  the  phiiofophyot  Plato ;  which  teaches 
that  the  dead  not  only  retain  all  the  paffions  of  the 
foul,  but  all  the  marks  and  blemiilies  of  the 
body  ^.  A  wild  doctrine  which  Lucian  agreeably 
ridicules  in  his  Menipptts:  who  is  made  to  fay,  that 
he  faw  Socrates  in  the  Shades,  bufied  at  his  old  trade 
of  confutation:  but  that  his  legs  yet  appeared  fwelled 
from  the  ejffeds  of  his  laft  deadly  potion  ^. 

/Eneas,  having  pafied  this  firft  divifion,  comes 
now  on  the  conlines  of  Tartarus;  and  is  in- 
(frudled  in  what  relates  to  the  crimes  and  punifli- 
ments  of  the  inhabitants. 

Flis  guide  here  more  openly  declares  her  office 
of  HiEROPHANT,  or  interpreter of  the  mylleries. 

Dux  inclyte  Teucrum, 
Nulli  fas  cailb  fceleratum  infiflere  limen  : 
Scd  ME  cum  lucis  Hecate  pr^fecit  avernis^ 
Ipfa  Deim  pxnas  do  quit,  per  que  omnia  dux  it. 
It  IS  remarkable,  that  iEneas  is  led  through  the  re- 
gions  of  Purgatory  and  Elyfium  ;  but  he  only  fees 
the  fights  of  Tartarus  at  a  diftance,  and  this  could 
not  be  otherwife  in  the  fnews  of  the  Myfteries,  for 
very  obvious  reafons. 

The  criminals  deftined  to  eternal  punifhment,  irj 
this  divifion,  are, 

y  Mr.  Addifon's  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  300,  quarto  edit.  1721. 
T(j   ri  v'lTo  f^xr^ycov    «  ah.'Ku'j  T^a.VMci.Tu-i   tm,  v^  ndvsuT^  ro  a-cdu.iL 
id  n&vtwTf^  rtx-vra  ii'any\tx,'  hi  d£  >,oy!j  oli^  'if)  'STccp^a-xc'jaro  to  c-Jas* 
p^'ji/ov.     Georg.   p.  524. 

'^5'  I.  Thofe 


2"66  The  Divine  Legist  ion     Book  IT, 

1.  Thofe  who  had  finned  fo  fecretly  as  to  efcape  tht 
animadverfion  of  the  magistrate  : 

Gnoffius  ha?cRhadamanthus  habet  diirifTima  regna: 
Caftigatque  auditque  dolos,  fihegitque  fateri 
Qus  quis  apud  fuperos,  furto  Isratus  inani, 
Diftulit  in  feram  commiira  piacula  mortem. 
And  it  was  principally  on  account  of  fuch  crimes 
that  the  legiflator  inforced  the  doctrine  of  a  future 
Hate  of  punifhment.     But  it  is  worth  while  to  ob- 
ferve,  that,  according  to   this  doctrine,  the  rack 
to  extort  confelnon,  came  originally  from  the  place 
of  the  Damned,  where  only  it  could  be  equitably- 
applied. 

2.  Thofe  whofe  principles  dififolve  the  firfl:  bonds 
of  aflfociation  and  fociety,  the  atheists  and  the 
defpifers  of  God  and  religion  : 

Hie  genus  antiquum  terrse  Titania  pubes. 
This  was  agreeable  to  the  laws  of  Charondas,  who 
fays  :  "  Be  the  contempt  of  the  Gods  put  in  the 
'*  number  of  the  mofl:  flagitious  crimes  S*'  The 
poet  dwells  particularly  on  that  fpecies  of  impiety 
which  affedcs  divine  honours  : 

Vidi  &  crudeles  dantem  Salmonea  pcenasj 

Dum  flammas  Jovis  &  fonitus  imitatur  Olympi. 
And  this  without  doubt,  was  an  oblique  caftigation 
of  the  ApotheofiSj  then  beginning  to  be  paid  and 
received  at  Rome. 

g.  The  infringers  of  the  duties  of  imperfect 
obligation,  ivhich  civil  laws  cannot  reach :  fuch  as 
thofe  wichout  natural  affeftion  to  brothers,  duty  to 
parents,  protection  to  clients,  or  charity  to  the  poor  ; 

Hie  quibus  invifi  fratres,  dum  vita  manebat; 

Pulfatusve  parens  -,  &  fraus  innexa  clienti '' ; 

^  "Ef-w  d'J  i^'-ytra  aJtxw/x.a'!;*  ^suv  xxla^p i^oyvjs-ic .  apud  StobjCI 
Serm.  xlii. 

^  So  the  law  of  the  T<welvs  Tables:  Patronus  si  clien- 
ti   FRAUDEM    FECERIT,    SACER    ESTO. 

Au 


Se(fl.  4.     ^  M  o  s  E  s  demonftrated.         267 

Aut  qui  divitiis  foli  incubiiere  repertis. 

Nee  partem  poiuere  fuis ;  quae  maxima  turba  eft. 

4.  Thole  pefts  of  public  and  private  peace,  the 
TRAYTOR  and  the  adulterer,  with  all  their 
various  fpawn. 

Quique  ob  adulterium  c^efi,  quique  arma  fecuti 
Impia,  nee  veriti  dominorum  fallere  dextras  — . 
Vendidit  hie  auro  patriam,  dominumque  potentem 
Impofuit  -,  fixit  leges  pretio,  atque  refixit. 
Hicthalamum  invafit  nat^,  vetitosque  hymenseos. 
It  is  obfervable,  he  does  not  fay,  fimply,  adulteriy 
but  ob  adulterium  cafi\  as  implying,  that  the  greateft 
civil  punifhment  makes  no  atonement  for  this  crime 
at  the  bar  of  divine  juftice. 

5.  The  invaders  and  violators  of  the  holy  my- 
fieries^  held  out  in  the  perfon  of  Thefeus,  make 
the  fifth  and  laft  clafs  of  offenders. 

Sedet,  asternumque  fedebit 
Infelix  Thefeus;  Phlegyasque*^  miferrimus  omnes 
Admonet,  &  magna  teflatur  voce  per  umbras  : 

DiSCITE    JUSTITIAM     MONITI,    ET     NON     TEM- 
NERE    DIVOS. 

The  fable  fays,  that  Thefeus  and  his  friend  Piri- 
thous  formed  a  defign  to  Heal  Proferpine  from 
hell  j  but  being  taken  in  the  fad,  Pirithous  was 
thrown  to  the  dog  Cerberus,  and  Thefeus  kept 
in  chains  '^,  till  he  was  delivered  by  Hercules  : 
which  without  doubt  means  the  death  of  one, 
and   the   imprifonment   of  the   other,    for   their 

'^  The  Phlegys  here  mentioned,  I  take  to  be  thofe  people  of 
Bocotia  fpoken  of  by  Paufanias,  who  attempting  yo  plunder  the 
temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi,  were  deftroyed  by  lightening, 
earthquakes,  and  peftilence;  hence  Phlegyse,  I  iuppofe,  iig- 
riified  impious,  facrilegious  perions  in  general ;  and  is  i'o  to  be 
tinderllood  in  this  place. 

Jo.  T?erzes,  C.  ii.  cap.  51. 
clandcftine 


268  ^he  Divine  Legation     Book  IL 

clandeftlne  Intrufion  into  the  Myfteries.  We  have 
already  offered  feveral  reafons,  to  fhew  that  the 
defcent  of  Thefeus  into  hell,  was  a  violation  of  the 
MjHeries  :  to  which  we  may  add  what  the  ancients 
tell  us  of  the  duration  of  his  imprifonment,  which 
was  four  years  •,  the  interim  between  the  cele- 
brations of  the  greater  myfteries.  So  Seneca  the 
tragedian  makes  him  fay : 

Tandem  profugi  nodis  sterna?  plagam, 

Vaftoque  manes  carcere  umbrantem  polum. 

Ut  vix  cupitum  fufferunt  oci^li  diem  ! 

Jam  (^uARTA  Eleufis  donaTriptolemi  fecat, 

Paremque  toties  Libra  compofuit  diem  j 

Ambiguus  ut  me  fortis  ignaras  labor 

Detinuit  inter  mortis  &  vitas  mala  ^. 
This  may  reconcile  the  contradidlory  accounts  of 
the  fable  concerning  Thefeus  ;  fome  of  which  fay 
he  was  delivered  from  hell  •,  others,  that  he  was 
eternally  detained  there.  The  fir§f  relates  to  the 
liberty  given  him  by  the  prefident  of  the  Myfteries 
at  the  enfuing  celebration  :  the  other^  to  what  the 
Myfteries  taught  was  his  lot,  and  the  lot  of  all  the 
violators  of  them,  in  the  other  world.  This  leads  us 
to  acircumftance  which  will  much  confirm  the  ge- 
neral interpretation  of  this  famous  book.  In  i^neas's 
fpeech  to  the  Sibyl,  Thefeus  i?  put  amongft  thofe 
heroes  who  went  to,  and  returned  from,  hell : 
Qiiid  Thefea  magnum. 

Quid  memorem  Alciden  ?  — 
But  in  the  place  before  us  he  is  reprefented  as  con- 
fined there  eternally.  Julius  Hyginus,  in  \\\sCom- 
mcntaries  o?'  Virgil  \  thinks  this  a  grofs  contradic- 
tion •,  which  Virgil  would  have  correfted,  had  he 
lived  to  finifti  the  poem.  But  can  it  be  fuppofed, 
the  poet  was  not  aware  of  this,  in  two  pafiages  fo 

"^  HippoL  f  A.Gellii  AV7.  Alt.  lib.  x.  cap.  i6. 

near 


Sed.  4.     of  Mo  SI.  s  demonftrated.  %6g 

near  one  another,  in  the  fame  book  ?  In  truth,  his 
employing  thefe  differing  circumftances,  confirms 
the  general  interpretation ;  and  the  general  inter- 
pretation helps  to  reconcile  the  difference,  ^neas 
wanted  to  be  initiated  •,  and  when  he  fpeaks  to  the 
Sibyl,  or  myftagogue,  he  enumerates  thofe  heroes 
who  had  been  initiated  before  him  ;  that  is,  fuch 
who  had  feen  the  fhews  of  the  myfteries,  of  which 
number  was  Thefeus,  though  he  had  intruded  vio- 
lently. But  when  Virgil  comes  to  defcribe  thefe 
Shews,  which  were  fuppofed  to  be  a  true  repre- 
fentation  of  what  was  done  and  fuffered  in  hell, 
Thefeus  is  put  among  the  damned,  that  being  his 
flation  in  the  other  world. 

This  will  remind  the  learned  reader  of  a  ftory 
told  by  Livy.  "  The  Athenians  (fayo  he)  drew 
upon  themfelves  a  war  with  Philip,  on  a  very 
flight  occafion  •,  and  at  a  time  when  nothing  re- 
mained of  their  ancient  fortune,  but  their  high 
fpirit.  Two  young  Acarnanians,  during  the 
days  of  initiation,  themfelves  uninitiated^  and 
ignorant  of  all  that  related  to  x.\i?iX.  fecret  worjhi-p^ 
entered  the  temple  of  Ceres  along  with  the 
crowd.  Their  difcourfe  foon  betrayed  them  ; 
as  making  fome  abfurd  enquiries  into  what  they 
faw  :  fo  being  brought  betore  the  prefident  of 
the  Myfteries,  although  it  was  evident  they  had 
entered  ignorantly  and  without  defign,  they 
were  put  to  death,  as  guilty  of  a  moil  abomin- 
able crime." 

S  Contraxerant  autem  cam  Philippe  bellum  Athenienfes  haud- 
quaquam  digna  caufa,  dum  ex  vetere  fortuna  nihil  prater  ani- 
mos  lervant.  Acarnanes  duo  juvenes  per  initiorum  die?,  non 
initiati,  templum  Cereris,  imprudentes  religionis,  cum  cetera 
turba  ingreffi  funt.  Facile  eos  fermo  prodidit,  abfurde  qusedam 
percunftantes ;  deduftique  ad  antiftites  tempH  cum  palam  efTet 
per  errorem  ingreffos,  tanquam  ob  infandum  fcelus,  interfecti 
lunt.    lliji.  lib.  xxxi. 

3  The 


270  The  Divine  Legation    Book  IL 

The  office  Thefeus  is  put  upon,  of  admonifhing 
his  hearers  againft  impiety^  could  not,  fure,  be  dii- 
charged  in  thefe  /hews  by  any  one  fo  well,  as  by 
him  who  reprefented  the  violator  of  them.  But 
the  critics,  unconfcious  of  any  fuch  defign,  con- 
lidered  the  tafk  the  poet  has  impofed  on  Thefeus, 
of  perpetually  founding  in  the  ears  of  the  damned, 
this  admonition : 

DiSCITE    JUSTITIAM    MONITI,    ET     NON     TEM- 
NERE    DIVOS, 

as  a  very  impertinent  employment.  For  though  it 
was  a  fentence  of  great  truth  and  dignity,  it  was 
preached  to  very  little  purpofe  amongft  thofe,  to 
whom  there  was  no  room  for  pardon  or  remiffion. 

Even  the  ridiculous  Scarron  hath  not  neglefted 
to  urge  this  objection  againft  it'' :  and  it  muft  be 
owned,  that,  according  to  the  common  ideas  of 
^neas's  defcent  into  hell,  the  objedion  is  not  ea- 
fily  got  over. 

But,  fuppofe  Virgil  to  be  here  relating  the  ad- 
monitory maxims  delivered  during  the  celebration 
of  thefe  myjiic  Jhews,  and  nothing  could  be  more 
juft  or  ufeful:  for  then  the  difcourfe  was  addrefled 
to  the  vaSf  multitude  of  living  fpe5iators.  Nor  is  it 
a  mere  fuppofition  that  fuch  difcourfes  made  part 
of  thefe  reprefentations.  Ariftides  exprefly  fays ', 
that  in  no  place  were  more  aftoniihing  words  pro- 
nounced or  fung,  than  in  thefe  my  Series  ;  the  rea- 
fon,  he  telis  us,  was,  that  xht  founds  and  xht  fights 
might  mutually  affift  each  other  in  making  an  im- 
preiTion  on  the  minds  of  the  initiated.  But,  from 
a  pafTage  in  Pindar,  I  conclude,  that  in  thefe  fhews 

^'     Cette  fentence  eft  bonne  &  belle, 
Mais  en  Enfcr  de  quoi  fert-elle  ? 

<rv  T«r?  uKoxTf  Tct  o^ufiz-ju  ;     Eleuf^ 

(from 


Se£l.  4*     ^f  Moses  detnonjlrated.         271 

(from  whence  men  took  their  ideas  of  the  infernal 
regions)  it  was  cuftomary  for  each  offender,  as  he 
pafled  by,  in  machinery,  to  make  an  admonition 
againft  his  own  crime.  "  It  is  reported  (fays  Pin- 
'*  dar)  that  Ixion,  by  the  decrees  of  the  Gods,v;hi]e 
**  he  is  inceffantly  turning  round  his  rapid  wheel, 
*'  calls  out  upon  mortals  to  this  effe6l.  That 
"  they  fhould  be  always  at  hand  to  repay  a  bene- 
**  fador  for  the  kindneffes  he  had  done  them  ".'* 
Where  the  word  BPOTOI,  living  men,  feems  plain- 
ly to  fhew  that  the  fpeech  was  at  firft  made  before 
men  in  this  world. 

The  poet  clofes  his  catalogue  of  the  damned  with 
thefe  words : 

Aufi  omnes  immane  nefas,  ausoque  potiti. 
For  the  ancients  thought  that  an  adtion  was  fandi- 
fied  by  the  fuccefs  ;  which  they  efteemed  a  mark 
of  the  favour  and  approbation  of  heaven.  As  this 
was  a  very  pernicious  opinion,  it  v/as  neceffary  to 
teach,  that  the  imperial  villain  who  trampled  on  his 
country,  and  the  baffled  plotter  v/ho  expired  on  a  gib- 
bet, were  equally  the  objefts  of  divine  vengeance. 

>Eneas  has  now  paffed  through  Tartarus  ;  and 
here  end  the  lesser  mysteries.  Their  original 
explains  why  this  fort  of  Jhews  v/as  exhibited  in 
them.  We  are  told,  they  were  inftituted  for  the 
fake  of  Hercules,  when  about  to  pertorm  his 
eleventh  labour,  of  fetching  Cerberus  from  hell ', 
and  were  under  the  prefidency  of  Proferpine  "". 

j&^oloii  Xeyeiv,   Iv  'Zijlipoi/lt  if  5^w 

Ton  iv£(ys7a.v  ccyavccii  afcoitarj 
'£7roipijcf*Evs5  TivE(&at.  2  Pyth. 

'  01  'E^£U5•|«o»  Itt'  ccvia  ra  (jlik^x    iiroyr.crx-Ao   ^ur^giix  —  ^E[ji,vr,5v! 
Iv  'EAfiKT-rn    rot   ^i'    uvTov  ['Hgax^eaj    "Ktyo^ivoc,    M1K.PA     p,t'r'^gi*- 

Tzetz.  in  Lycoph. 

™  Ta  3  ftix^a  riE^crsf  j:  jjj  —  Schal.  Arijloph.  ad  Plut.  ficund. 

He 


272  T'he  Divine  Legation    Book  II. 

The  Hero  advances  to  the  borders  of  Elysium, 
and  here  he  undergoes  the  lujlration  : 
Occupat  iEneas  aditum,    corpusque  recenti 
Spargit  aqua,  ramumque  adverlb  in  hmine  figit. 
"  Being  now  about  to  undergo  the  luftrations  (fays 
"  Sopater)  which  immediately  precede  initiation 
"  into  the  greater  myfteries,  they  called  me  hap- 
"  pyV* 

Accordingly,  JEneas  now  enters  on  the  great- 
er MYSTERIES,  and  comes  to  the  abodes  ot  the 
bleffed: 
Devenere  locos  Isetos,  &  amoena  vireta 
Fortunatorum  nemorum,  fedesque  beatas  : 
Largior  hie  campos  sether,  &  lumine  veftit 
Purpureo  :  folemque  fuum,  fua  fidera  norunt. 
Thefe  two  fo  different  fcenes  explain  what  Arifti- 
des  meant,  when  he  called  the  fl:iews  of  the  Eleu- 
frnian  myfteries,  that  moft  Jljocking,  and,  at  the  fame 
time,  mojl  ravijhing  reprefentation  °. 

The  initiated,  who  till  now  only  bore  the  name 
of  Mv^co,  are  called  EnoilTAI,  and  this  new  vifi- 
on,  ATTO^IA.  "  The  AJTo4"'a,  or  the  feeing  with 
"  their  own  eyes  (fays  Pfellus)  is  when  he  who  is 
"  initiated  beholds  the  divine  lights  •"." 

In  thefe  very  circumftances  Themiflius  defcribes 
the  initiated,  when  jull  entered  upon  this  fcene. 
"  It  being  thoroughly  purified,  he  now  difcloles 
"  to  the  initiated,  a  r<;gion "'  all  over  illuminated,. 

"  MiTO^m  ^t  roTi  xa.^x?a'ioic,  to7:  ■z^po  r'lic  Ti7\ilr,i;,  h  ivj^xvfi:,  In- 
d'KHv  Et'^ai^ova  l[Aav\6ii.     In  Di-vif.  ^o'Ji. 

°    tStov  (pftXOCOii-Ctlov  Ti  )^yCCiS^'^'7C/'ioV.        Elcuf. 

Schol.  in  Orac.  Zoroaft. 

q  This  which  was  all  o'ver  llhimlnalcd,  and  wliich  the  prieft 
had  thoroughly  furif.ed,  was  -i.yct'KyLv,  an  image.  T\\t  rcaibn  of 
transferring  what  is  faid  of  rhe  illumination  of  the  ijiiag..,  to  the 
illumination  of  the  region,  is,  becaufe  this  image  reprcfcnicd 
the  appearances  of  the  divine  Ceing.  in  one  large,  unil'orm,  ex- 

'  "  and 


Sed.  4»     of  M.o^'E^  demonjirated,  273 

*«  and  fhining  with  a  divine  fplendor.  The  cloud 
"  and  thick  darknefs  are  difperfed ';  and  the  nnind 
"  emerges,  as  it  were,  into  day,  full  of  light 
"  and  chearfulnefs,  as  before,  of  difconfolate  ob- 
"  fcurity^'* 

tenfive  light.  Thus  Jamblichus  De  myjieriis:  Msla  }ri  T«tS- 
ra,  Tuv  avTo(pavuv  AFAAMATiiN  ^oya?  oi(po^iao[juiQa,'  ax3v  in  ft 
7(ySi  Tiov  Bsuv  A^TO-ir\A\Y,  WEgy/j-epa   t^   aJr??    t?;    aAiiOfia?    ipu- 

tii<pa,\vi\xt.  —  And  again,  '^aavrux;  to'^vvm  JtJ  Itc)  rS  <l>nT0L' 
Ta  ju  Tuii  Beuv  AFAAMATA  ^w1&;  'a'hio*  drpa7r']<{-—  to  fx  tuif 
^uv  fsjv^,  aTO/Aof,  d(p^=yxlov  ix.'Soiyi'Trei.  k^  'cr>>»)^or  t»  o>.a,  l3a.Qn 
T«  xoa-f^e  "usvfiuq,  a^A'  a  'Efeixocr/itiwj.  §  ii.  cap,  4.  He  faySj 
too,  tliat  it  was  ivithout  figure,  \v)(ri<;  Tt  t??  /*  o^r;,  ti^  ei* 
y^£Vt  Twv  wj"  fA=5©'  eW«  «aIs;)^ofx.Efij;  ot^^  ogaraj  oivuQim  —  cap.  7* 
To  this  image,  the  following  lines  in  the  Oracles  of  Zoro- 
after  allude  : 

Mi  (pt/(T£W?  xcc7\ea-yi<;  AYTODTON  AFAAMA, 
Ov  ■y)  ^-z]  xslvm  ai  jS^eVfiv  cn-piv  auixa.  TEAED©Hi. 
*'  Invoke  not  the  felf  confpicuous  image  of  nature,  for  thou 
"  muft  not  behold  thefe  things  before  thy  body  be  purified  by 
*'  initiation."  ThisavroTrloi'aya^ixawasonly  adiffufive  fliining 
light,  as  the  name  partly  declares,  thus  defcribed  prefently  af- 
ter, in  the  fame  Oracles : 

Hnxa.  jS^et]'''''?  fAo§ip^?  drip  ev'iipov  'mv^, 

AafATTo/XEvov  o-xi(lr)Sov  oXa  y(p  ^stBiat  xoa^a, 

KAi;6(   TUV^ai;  (puvrjv- 

And  the  Jight  of  this  divine  fplendor  was  what  the  myfterles 
called,  ATTO^iA. 

■■  Pletho  tells  us  with  what  thefe  clouds  were  accompanied, 
viz.  thunder  and  lightning,  and  other  meteoric  appearances.  T« 

OE  T^^«^Ae^')l;  (pcnyjyuzva.,  Xifuvvo),  y^  'UJv^,  k^  it  Ti  cc'aXo,  <7Vf^.Qo7\Ot,  a,\- 
?vw;  lr*i,  B.&£BTi  ft-va-u-  In  Schol.  adOrac.  Mag.  Xor.  Ke  fays 
they  were  fymboh,  but  not  of  the  nature  of  the  deity :  and 
this  was  true;  for  the  fymbol  of  that  was  the  a.v~tjit%)i  a.- 
ya>.[A.a.  which  followed  :  Hence,  as  we  fee  above,  it  was  'with? 
out  figure. 

?  ' —  ijro3-/w.>3|a;  mu-flx'/p^v' ,  lin&Axvv  ru  fjLvai/Avoj  yiyocp^x^voscv 
TE  'nor),  K^  aJyjj  xccla.'ha.^Tcoybi'Jf'V  BiatTur'iCC,  viTi  o,m,i%7'.>j  Ixi'iv'ri,  >^ 
to  v£<p<^  a,^^6(jv  VTrs^ir/yvvlo'  iCj  i^e(paiviTo  0  ►a;  bk  Ty  jSa'Sa?, 
(psyfa;  diCiT^Xiu:;  >^  dy?^a,\'xi  uvtI  t»  "Ct^cte^ov  cxira.  Or  at,  in 
Patrctn. 

Vol.  I,  T  Ux 


274  ^'^^  Divine  Legation     Book  IL 

Let  me  obferve,  that  the  lines 
Largior  hie  campos  sether  &  lumine  veflit 
Purpureo :  soLEMque  luum,  fua  fidera  norunt, 
are  in  the  very  language  of  thofe,  who  profefs  to  tell 
us  what  they  faw  at  their  initiation  into  the  greater 
wyfieries.     "  No6te  media  vidi  sol  em  candido  co- 
"  rufcantem  lumine  V'  f^ys  Apuleius  on  that  oc-^ 
cafion. 

Here  Virgil,  by  leaving  his  mailer,  and  copy- 
ing the  amiable  paintings  ot  Elyfium,  as  they  were 
reprefented  in  the  inyfteries,  hath  artfully  avoided 
a  fault,  too  juftly  objeded  to  Hom.er,  of  giving 
jR)  dark  and  joylefs  a  landfcape  of  the.  fcrtunata  ne- 
mora^  as  could  raife  no  defire  or  appetite  for  them  : 
his  favourite  hero  himfelf,  who  poffelTed  them, 
telling  UlylTes,  that  he  had  rather  be  a  day-labourer 
above,  than  command  in  the  regions  of  the  dead. 
Such  a  reprefentation  defeats  the  very  intent  of  the 
lawgiver,  in  propagating  the  do6lrine  of  a  future 
Hate,  Nay,  to  mortify  every  excitement  to  noble 
*a6tions,  the  Greek  poet  makes  reputation,  fame, 
and  glory,  the  great  fpur  to  virtue  in  the  pagan 
fyflem,  to  be  vifionary  and  impertinent.  On  the 
contrary,  Virgil,  whofe  aim,  in  this  poem,  was 
the  good  of  fociety,  makes  the  love  of  glory  fo 
ftrong  a  paffion  in  the  other  world,  that  the  Si- 
byl's promife  toPalinurus,  that  his  name  fhouJd 
be  only  affixed  to  a  promontory,  rejoices  his  fhade 
even  in  the  regions  of  the  unhappy  : 

JEterniimqiie  locus  Palinuri  ywmen  habebit : 
His  di61:is  cur.'E  emotje,  pulfusque  parumper 
Corde  dolor  trifti  j  gaudet  cognomine  terra. 

It  was  this  ungracious  defcription  of  Elyfium,  and 
the  licentious  fcories  of  the  Gods  (both  fo  perni- 

t  Met.  I.  xi. 

clous 


Se(fl.  4.     (?/  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrated,  275 

cious  to  fociety)  that  made  Plato  banifh  Homer 
out  of  his  republic. 

But  to  return.  The  poet  having  defcribed  the 
climate  of  the  happy  regions,  fpeaks  next  of  the 
amufements  of  its  inhabitants. 

Pars  in  gramineis  exercent  membra  palaeftris  ; 

Contendunt  ludo,  &  fulva  luftantur  arena. 

Befides  the  obvious  allufion,  in  thefe  lines,  to  the 
philofophy  of  Plato,  concerning  the  duration  of 
the  palfions,  it  feems  to  have  a  more  fecret  one  to 
what  he  had  all  the  way  in  his  eye,  the  Eleufinian 
myfteries ;  whofe  celebration  was  accompanied 
with  the  Grecian  games  \  On  which  account  too, 
perhaps  it  was  that,  in  the  difpofition  of  his  work, 
his  T?/"/^  book  is  employed  in  xkit  games ^  as  a  pre- 
lude to  the  defcent  in  the  ftxth. 

I.  The  firft  place,  in  thefe  happy  regions,  is 
afligned  to  the  lawgivers,  andthofe  who  brought 
mankind  from  a  ftate  of  nature  into  fociety  : 

Magnanimi  Heroes,  nati  melioribu3  annis. 
At  the  head  of  thefe  is  Orpheus,  the  moil  renown- 
ed of  the  European  lawgivers ;  but  better  known 
under  the  charader  of  poet :  for  the  firft  laws  be- 
ing written  in  meafure,  to  allure  men  to  learn  them, 
and,  when  learnt,  to  retain  them,  the  fable  would 
have  it,  that  by  the  force  of  harmony,  Orpheus 
foftened  the  favage  inhabitants  of  Thrace  : 

Threicius  longa  cum  vefte  facerdos 

Obloquitur  numeris  feptem  difcrimin^i  vocum. 
But  he  has  the  firft  places  becaufe  he  was  not  only 

'cr^BC'cvruf'^  0   rujv    Tla>ubr,vai'uv'     il    al    /SyA«,    o    ran  'tT^ivcn'iwj. 

xa^a;'    u.yu:'^d  te  yv[A,v,)iv;    'p^-ji^xi    •cr|;&JTov   'i.hivv'i.i   r-^?   'AtIi*.??. 
Ide?>i  Eliujin^ 

T  2  a  Le- 


276  ^he  Divine  Legation     Book  II. 

a  LegiQator,  but  the  bringer  of  the  myfleries  into 
that  part  of  Europe. 

2.  The  next  is  allotted  to  patriots,  andthofe 
who  died  for  the  fervice  of  their  country : 

Hie  manus,  ob  patriam  pugnando  vulnera  pafli. 

3.  The  third  to  virtuous  and  pious  'pvh-estsi 
Quique  facerdotes  cafti,  dum  vita  manebat  -, 
Quique  pii  vates  &  Phoebo  digna  locuti. 

For  it  was  of  principal  ufe  to  fociety,  that  religious 
men  fhould  lead  holy  lives  -,  and  that  they  fhould 
teach  nothing  of  the  Gods  but  what  was  agreeable 
to  the  divine  nature. 

4.  The  laft  place  is  given  to  the  inventors  of 
ARTS  mechanical  and  liberal'. 

Inventas  aut  qui  vitam  excoluere  per  artes  : 
Quique  fui  memores  alios  fecere  merendo. 
The  order  is  exadl  and  beautiful.  The  firfl  clafs 
is  of  thofe  who  founded  fociety,  heroes  and  law- 
givers:  the  fecond,  of  thofe  who  supported  it, 
patriots  and  holy  priefts  :  and  the  third,  of  thofe 
who  ADORNED  it,  the  inventors  of  the  arts  of  life, 
and  the  recorders  of  worthy  adlions. 

Virgil  has  all  along  clofely  followed  the  do^rine 
of  the  myjleries^  which  carefully  taught  that  vir- 
tue only  could  entitle  men  to  happinefs ;  and  that 
rites,  ceremonies,  luftrations  and  facrifices  would 
not  fupply  the  want  of  it. 

Nor  has  he  been  lefs  ftudious  in  copying  their 
flje-ws  and  reprefentations  ;  in  which  the  figures  of 
thofe  heroes  and  heroines,  who  were  moil  celebrat- 
ed in  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Greek  authors, 
pafTed  in  procen^ion '''. 

av^riiv  >tj  ywuiKuv  h  loT:  a6f|>;Tois  If a'rrfAas-iv"    a.  0.  £i;  to  ftecov  <crct- 

Bur, 


Sedt.  4*     of  yio^-E.^  demonpraUd.  277 

But,  notwithftanding  this  entire  conformity  be- 
tween the  poet's  fcenes  and  thofe  reprefented  in  the 
myjieries,  fomething  is  ftill  wanting  to  complete  the 
identification:  and  that  is,  the  famous  secret  of 
the  myjleries,  the  unity  of  the  godhead,  of 
which  fo  much  hath  been  faid  above.  Had  Vir- 
gil neglcdled  to  give  us  this  charadleriftic  mark, 
though,  even  then,  we  could  not  but  fay,  his  in- 
tention was  to  represent  an  initiation;  yet  we  muft 
have  been  forced  to  own  he  had  not  done  it  with 
the  utmoft  art.  But  he  was  too  good  a  painter,  to 
leave  any  thing  ambiguous ;  and  hath  therefore 
concluded  his  hero's  initiation^  as  was  the  cuftom, 
with  inftrudling  him  in  the  AIIOPPHTA,  or  the 
do(5lrine  of  the  unity.  Till  this  was  done,  the 
initiated  was  not  arrived  to  the  highefl  ftage  of  per- 
fedlion  •,  nor,  in  the  fulled  fenfe,  intitled  to  the 
appellation  of  EnOHTHS. 

Muf^us,  therefore,  who  had  been  hierophant  at 
Athens,  takes  the  place  of  the  Sibyl  (as  it  was  the 
cuftom  to  have  different  guides  in  different  parts 
of  the  celebration)  and  is  made  to  conduct  him 
to  the  recefs,  where  his  father's  fhade  opens  to  him 
the  hidden  doftrine  of  perfedion,  in  thcfc  fub- 
lime  words; 

Principio  coelum,  ac  terras,  camposque  liquentes, 
Lucentemque  globum  Lunse,  Titaniaque  aftra 
Spiritus  intus  alit,  totamqueinfufaperartiis 
Mens  agitat  molem,  &  magno  fe  corpore  mifcet, 
Inde  hominum  pecudumque  genus,  vitffique  vo- 

lantum, 
Et  qucE  marmoreo  fert  monftra  fub  asquore  pon- 

tus. 

This  was  no  other  than  the  do6lrine  of  the  old 
Egyptians,  as  we  are  affured  by  Plato ;  who  fays 

T  3  they 


278  '^he  Divine  Legation     Book  IT, 

they  taught  that  Jupiter  was  the  spirit  which 

PERVADETH   ALL  THINGS". 

We  have  fhewn  how  eafily  the  Greek  Philofo- 
phy  corrupted  this  principle  into  (what  is  now 
called)  Spinozifm  y.  Here  Virgil  has  approved  his 
judgment  to  great  advantage.  Nothing  was  more 
abhorrent  from  the  myfteries,  than  Spinozifm^  as 
it  overturned  ^  the  do6l:rine  of  a  future  ftate  of  re- 
wards and  punifhments,  which  the  myfteries  fo 
carefully  inculcated  •,  and  yet  the  principle  itfelf, 
of  which  Spinozifm  was  the  abufe,  was  che- 
rifhed  there,  as  it  was  the  confequence  of  the 
dodrine  of  the  unity,  the  grand  fecret  of  the 
myfteries.  Virgil,  therefore,  delivers  the  princi- 
ple, with  great  caution,  and  pure  and  free  of  the 
abufe  ;  though  he  underftood  the  nature  of  Spi- 
nozifm, and  (by  the  following  lines  in  his  fourth 
Georgic,  where  he  delivers  it)  appears  to  have  been 
infefted  with  it. 

Deum  namque  ire  per  omnes 

Terrasque  tradusque  maris,  coelumque  profun- 
dum. 

Hinc  pecudes,  armenta,  viros,  genus  omne  fe- 
rarum 

Quemque  fibi  tenues  nafcentem  arceflere  vitas. 

Scilicet   Huc   reddi   denique   ac  resoluta 

REFERRI 

Omnia  — 

However,  the  myfteries  did  not  teach  the  dor 
drine  of  the  unity  for  mere  fpeculation ;  but,  as 
we  faid  before,  to  obviate  certain  mifchiefs  of 
polytheifm,  and  to  fupport  the  belief  of  a  provi- 

^  " la. v ;/.(]!  ^i  JtJ  T«  TbTttHi  "nra^aiTala'  r»  oe  to.  Alyvrflio.'  rriv 
^IcT.u  (paal  Sec.  —  >^  A'.x,  l^iv.  To  AIA  HANTSIN  XriPOTN 
HNETMA.      In  Cratylo. 

f  Bookiii.  Sea,  4,        ^  See  Book  iii.  Seft.  3  &  4. 

dence. 


Sed.  4*     of  yios^^  de?nonflrafed.  279 

dence.     Now,  as  a  future  flate  of  rewards  and 
puniiliments  did  not  quite  remove  the  objetftions 
to  it's  inequalities  here,  they  added  to  it  the  doc- 
trine of  the  METEMPSYCHOSIS,  or  the  belief  of 
2l  prior  Jiate^.     And  this,  likewife,  our  poet  has 
been  careful  to  record.     For  alter  having  revealed 
the  great  fecret  of  the  unity^  he  goes  on  to  fpeak 
of  the  metempfychofis,  or  tranliiiigration,  in  this 
manner  j 
Has  omnes,  ubi  mille  rotam  volvere  per  annos, 
Lethasum  ad  fluvium  deus  evocat  agmine  magnxj 
Scilicet  immemores  fupera  ut  convexa  revifant, 
Rurfus  &  incipiant  in  corpora  velle  reverti. 

And  thence  takes  occafion  to  explain  the  nature 
and  ufe  of  purgatory^  which,  in  his  hero's  palTage 
through  that  region,  had  not  been  done :  this  af- 
fords him  too  an  opportunity  for  that  noble  epi- 
fode,  the  proceffion  of  the  hero's  pofterity,  which 
paffes  in  review  before  him :  And  vyith  this  the 
icene  clofes.  One  might  well  allow  Virgil  the 
ufe  of  fo  important  a  digrefTion,  (confidering 
whom  it  was  he  celebrated  under  the  chara-fler 
of  iEneas)  though  it  had  been  foreign  to  the 
nature  of  the  myfteries  he  is  defcribing.  But 
indeed  he  was  £ven  here  following  their  cuf- 
toms  very  clofely.  It  was  then,  and  had  been  for 
fome  time,  the  praftice  of  the  myfteries,  when 
communicated  to  any  afpirant  of  diftinguifhed 
quality,  to  exhibit  to  him,  in  i\iz\v  Jhews  and  re- 
prefentations^  fomething  relating  to  his  own  for- 
tune and  affairs.  Thus  Himerius  tells  us,  that 
Olympia,  on  her  recovery  from  the  birth  of  Ale- 
xander, was  initiated  into  the  Samothracian  my- 

_  3  Vid.  Porph.  de  Ahji,  1.  iv.  feft.  16.   et  Cic,  Fragm.  ex 
lib.  de  Philojo^hia. 

T  JL  ileries. 


28o  ^he  Divine  Legation    Book  II. 

fteries  :  Where,  in  thtjhews^  Ihe  faw  her  hufband 
Philip,  at  that  time  in  Potidasa  ^. 

In  attending  the  hero's '  progrefs  through  the 
three  eftates  of  the  dead,  we  have  fliewn,  from 
fome  ancient  author,  at  almoft  every  ftep,  the 
exafl  conformity  of  his  adventures  to  thofe  of  the 
initiated  in  the  myfteries.  We  (hail  now  coiledt 
thefe  fcattered  lights  to  a  point ;  which  will,  I 
am  perfuaded,  throw  fuch  a  luflre  on  this  inter-: 
pretation,  as  to  make  the  truth  of  it  irrefiftible.  To 
this  purpofe,  1  Ihall  have  nothing  to  do,  but  to 
tranfcribe  a  paflage  from  an  ancient  writer,  preferv- 
ed  by  Stobaeus  j  which  profefles  to  explain  the 
exad:  conformity  between  death,  or  a  real  de- 
fcent  to  the  infernal  regions,  and  initiation, 
where  the  reprefentation  of  thofe  regions  was  ex- 
hibited. His  words  are  thefe  :  The  mind  is  af- 
fected AND  agitated  IN  DEATH,  JUST  AS  IT 
IS  IN  INITIATION  INTO  THE  GRAND  MYSTE- 
RIES.   And  word  answers  to  word  as  well 

AS  THING  TO  thing:  FOR  TEAETTAjN  IS  TO 
DIEj  AND  TEAEII0AI,  TO  BE  INITIATED.  ThE 
fIRST  STAGE  IS  NOTHING  BUT  ERRORS  AND 
UNCERTAINTIES;  LABORIOUS  WANDERINGS  ;  A 
RUDE  AND  FEARFUL  MARCH  THROUGH  NIGHT 
AND  DARKNESS.  AnD  NOW  ARRIVED  ON  THE 
VERGE  OF  DEATH  AND  INITIATION,  EVERY 
THING  WEARS  A  DREADFUL  ASPECT  :  IT  IS 
ALL  HORROR,  TREMBLING,  SWEATING,  AND 
AFFRIGHTMENT.  BuT  THIS  SCENE  ONCE  OVER, 
A    MIRACULOUS    AND     DIVINE     LIGHT      DISPLAYS 

°  A/y/lat  wols  K^  'OXv^tTJa^a,  Tr,v  t-Tri  roT^  A^i^dv^fS  ro^ot^  <36'- 
oaifioi'si  o^/id^acruv  to,  Ka»eifwv  ev  "La.u.oQfOt.Kyi  (/.v-tifm,  ioiTv  xal/)t 
rr.v  TtXtlioj  rov  ^/^jTrTrov.  i»  Ec/pg.  Dec/am.  cpud Photium,  Cod. 
165,243.^     I 

IT- 


Se6l.  4.    o/"  M  0  s  E  s  demonftrated.  281 

itself  •,  and  shining  plains  and  flowery 
meadows  open  on  all  hands  before  them. 
Here  they  are  entertained  with  hymns, 
and  dances,  with  the  sublime  doctrines 
of  sacred  knowledge,   and  with  reverend 

AND  HOLY  VISIONS.  AnD  NOW  BECOME  PER- 
FECT AND  INITIATED,  THEY  ARE  FREE,  AND 
NO  LONGER  UNDER  RESTRAINTS;  BUT  CROV/NED 
AND  TRIUMPHANT,  THEY  WALK  UP  AND  DOWN 
THE  REGIONS  OF  THE  BLESSED  ;  CONVERSE  WITH 
PURE  AND  HOLY  MEN;  AND  CELEBRATE  THE 
SACRED   MYSTERIES  AT   PLEASURE  ^. 

The  progrefs  finifhed,  and  every  thing  over, 
^neas  and  his  guide  are  let  out  again  to  the  upper 
regions,  through  the  ivory  gate  of  dreams.  A 
eircumftance  borrowed  from  Homer,   and  very 

^  To  5'e  zjdo-XHv  <wa.^^,  oTop  'jI  T£^£TIZK  (AiyccXxi^  Kc^lopyix'^o- 
fAtvoi*  ^io  >c^  TO  ^riiA,ex,  ru  ^ri(ji.(x]i ,  xj  to  i^yov  tuS  e^yu  T«  nXivlct* 
)Cj  TEXHc&ai  'sr^ocr/oiXE,  'Cs'Kccvxi  Tci  'Zs^oira.  x^  'Zpe*o^o^ot.k  ;407rwd«?, 
x^  Oioi,  ax.0T8i  Tivo?  v7ro7/loi  'V70ft7ai  hJ  ccrehefoi'  elrc6  'mop  TH  TsXas 
auVy  rot  ceivu  izjocvlac,  (pc\xri,  tC^  t^o[a,<B^,  xJ  iopuc,  t^  ■jxtA.Q'^'  ix 
SI  Tara,  ^tti;  t»  Sat;fAOtc7»ov  uTrv^lricrsv,  t]  tottoi  XaSa^oi,  >c^  'Aet^^jivi-i 
lo/|«v]o,  <puvoii  iCj  ^o^e.aci;  y^  cnfju/oTiolcii;  a.x.eiT(4.a.ruJV  hfuv,  y^  <pa.v- 
Tct.ai/.dTWV  ayiwy  i')(^o'fli(;'  It/  a\;  o  'ZiTa-^-:>^r,^  vi^'n  x^  fjufA.vniA.iv©-'  i?^dj- 
fiff®'  yiyovu<;,  x^  a(p£l@^  <t^\'uv  iTi^a.vu.-^ivf^  o-yi^t^ei'  it)  <7-jjj- 
«r«v  la'ioiq  xj  x-a^ctmc  dv^^acn.  Sermo  cxix.  The  Son  of  Sirach, 
who  was  full  of  Grecian  ideas,  and  hath  embellifhed  his  ad- 
mirable work  ofEccLEsiAsTicus  with  a  great  deal  of  Gen- 
tile learning,  hath  plainly  alluded,  tho'  in  few  words,  to  theie 
circumftances  of  initiation,  where  encouraging  men  to 
feek  after  ivifd-jm,  he  fays :  —  "Ac  firft  fhe  will  walk  with 
*'  him  by  crooked  ways,  and  bring  fear  and  dread  upon 
*'  him,  and  torment  him  nvith  her  drfcipliin,  until  ftie  may 
*'  TRUST  his  foul,  and  try  him  by  her  laws.  Then  will  fhe 
*'  return  the  straight  W9,y  unto  him,  and  comfort  him. 
"  and  Ihew  him  hey  sec  rets."  —  ^»£rf«jM.fAsw?  'sjng^^Jfla.i  i^sr^ 
tcvri  Ivrnfui-roK;'  <1^0B0N  Ti  x,^  AEiAlAN  'nrcc^e-s  ett'  kJtov,  x.^  /3a- 
cavicrei  avrov  tv  'mui^toi  aJr?;?,  iu;  a  EMniSTETlHj  tjj  ^\'vx,''^ 
tcvTn'  Kj  "met^occrvi  otUTov  iv  rb'i(;  Sma.iii}U,ce.criv  ai/V'^f.  K«t  OTa^ii'  eTT- 
ttuv^H  xocT    <iCQi7av  'sr^oi;   ciutov,    x^  ET<IjPANEI  auTon,  x^   AIIOKA- 

.Ar+El  uvTu  T«  KnnTA  aJr^s.     Chap.  iv.  ^  \~,  1  8. 

happily 


282  'The  Divine  Legation    Book  II. 

happily  applied  to  this  fubje(5t ;  for,  as  Euripides 
elegantly  expreflfes  it, 

"Tttv©-  Tot  MIKPA  Ta  BravoiTii  MT2THPIA. 

A  dream  is  the  lesser,  mysteries  oi  death. 

But,  befides  this  of  ivory^  there  was  another  of 
horn.  Through  the  firft  iffued  falfe  vifions  j  and 
through  the  latter,  true. 

Sunt  geminns  Somni  port^e :  quarum  altera  fertur 
Cornea,  qua  veris  facilis  datur  exitus  umbris  ; 
Altera  candenti  perfedla  nitens  elephant©  ; 
Scdfalfa  ad  coelum  mittunt  infomnia  manes. 
His  ubi  turn  natum  Anchifes,  unaque  Sibyllam 
Profequitur  di6lis,  portaque  emit  tit  eburna. 

Servius,  with  the  fpirit  of  a  rank  grammarian,  who 
feldom  finds  any  thing  to  flop  at  but  a  folecifm  in 
exprefTion,  fays  very  readily,  "  Vult  autem  intel- 
"  ligi,  falfa  effe  omnia  quse  dixit.  He  would  have 
"  you  underfland  by  this,  that  all  he  has  been 
''  faying  is  falfe  and  groundlefs."  The  following 
critics  give  the  fame  folution.  Ruasus,  one  of  the 
befl,  may  fpeak  for  them  all :  "  Cum  igitur  Vir- 
"  gilius  iEneam  eburnea  porta  emittit,  indicat 
"  profe^to,  quidquid  a  fe  de  illo  inferorum  aditu 
"  didum  efl,  in  fabulis  effe  numerandum."  This 
interpretation  is  flrengthened  by  Virgil's  being  an 
Epicurean  ;  and  making  the  fame  conclufion  in  his 
fecond  Georgic : 
Felix,  qui  potuit  rerum  cognofcere  caufas, 
Atque  metus  omnes  &  inexorabile  fatum 
Subjecit  pedihus,  Jirepitumque  Acherontis  avari  ! 

ButVirgil  wrote,  not  for  the  amufement  of  women 
and  children  over  a  winter's  fire,  in  the  tafle  of  the 
Mile/tan  fables ;  but  for  the  ufe  of  men  and  citi- 
zens i  to  inftruft  them  in  the  duties  of  humanity 
and  fociety.     The  purpofe,  therefore,  of  fuch  a 

writer^ 


Sed.  4*    of  Moses  de?nonJlrated.  283 

writer,  when  he  treats  of  a  future  fiate^  niuft  be 
to  make  the  dodrine  interefting  to  his  reader,  and 
ufeful  in  civil  Ufe  :  Virgil  hath  done  the  firft,  by 
bringing  his  Hero  to  it  thro'  the  moft  perilous  at- 
chievement  i  and  the  fecond,  by  appropriating 
the  rewards  and  punifhments  of  that  ilate  to  ^vir- 
tue  and  to  vice  only.  Now  if  we  will  believe 
thefe  critics,  v,rhen  the  poet  had  laboured  through 
a  whole  book,  and  employed  all  his  art  and  ge- 
nius to  compafs  this  important  end,  he  fool- 
iflily  defeats  his  whole  defign  with  one  wanton 
dafh  of  his  pen,  which  fpeaks  to  this  effed: :  *'  I 
"  have  laboured,  countrymen,  to  draw  you  to 
"  virtue,  and  to  deter  you  from  vice,  in  or- 
"  der  to  make  particulars  and  focieties  flourifl]- 
*'  ing  and  happy.  The  truths  inforced  to  th.is 
*'  purpofe,  I  have  endeavoured  to  recommend  by 
"  the  example  of  your  anceftor  and  founder,  ^- 
"  neas  \  of  whom  (to  do  you  the  more  credit)  I 
*'  have  made  an  accomplilhed  hero  ♦,  and  have 
"  fet  him  on  the  moft  arduous  and  illuftrious  un- 
"  dertaking,  the  eftablifhment  of  a  civil  commu- 
"  nity  :  and  to  fandify  his  charafter,  and  add  re- 
"  verence  to  his  laws,  I  have  fent  him  upon  the 
*'  errand  you  fee  here  related.  But,  left  the  bu- 
"  finefs  fhould  do  you  any  fervice,  or  my  hero 
"  any  honour,  I  muft  inform  you,  that  all  this 
"  talk  of  a  future  fiate  is  a  childifli  tale,  and  yl> 
*'  neas's  part  in  it,  only  a  fairy  adventure.  In  a 
"  word,  all  that  you  have  heard,  muft  pals  for  z 
"^  lenten  dream,  from  which  you  are  to  draw  no 
"  confequences,  but  that  the  poet  was  in  a  capri- 
*'  cious  humour,  and  difpofed  to  laugh  at  youi- 
"  fuperftitions."  Thus  is  Virgil  made  to  fpeak 
in  the  interpretation  of  ancient  and  modern  critics". 

^  This  abfardi ty  did  not  efcape  tiie  learned  Dacier,  who, 
iil  his  note  on  poria  fugietis  cburvMi  I.  iii.  Od.  xxvii.    of  Ho- 

And 


284  ^^^  Divine  Legation    Book  II. 

And  this  the  conclufion  he  was  pleafed  to  give  to 
the  mafter-piece  of  all  his  writings. 

The  truth  is,  the  difficulty  can  never  be  gotten 
over,  but  by  fuppofing  the  defcent  to  fignify  an  in- 
itiation into  the  myfteries.  This  will  unriddle  the 
enigma,  and  reftore  the  poet  to  himfelf.  And  if 
this  was  Virgil's  meaning,  it  is  to  be  prefumed, 
he  would  give  fome  private  mark  to  afcertain  it : 
for  which  no  place  was  fo  proper  as  the  conclu- 
fion. He  has,  therefore,  with  a  beauty  of  in- 
vention peculiar  to  himfelf,  made  this  fine  im- 
provement on  Homer's  flory  of  the  two  gates ; 
and  imagining  that  of  horn  for  true  vifions,  and, 
that  of  ivory  for  falfe,  infmuates  by  the  firfl  the 
reality  of  another  ftate;  and  by  the  fecond,  the 
Jhadowy  reprefentations  of  it  in  the  fliews  of  the  my- 
jieries :  fo  that,  not  the  things  objefted  to  ^neas, 
but  the  fcenes  of  them  only,  were  falfe ;  as  they 
lay  not  in  hell,  but  in  the  temple  of  Ceres. 
This  reprefentation  being  called  MTQOI,  kut  I|- 
oy^^]).  And  this  we  propofe  as  the  true  meaning 
of 
Altera  candenti  perfeda  nitens  elephanto  : 
Sed  falsa  ad  ccelum  mittunt  infomnia  manes. 
For,  falfa  infomnia  do  not  fignify  lying,  but,  Jha- 
dcwy  dreams.  Thus  the  Roman  widow,  in  the 
famous  fepulchral  infcription%  begs  the  Dii  ma- 
race,  fays,  —  Mais  ce  qu'il  y  a  d'etonnant,  c'eft  que  Virgile 
fait  fortir  Anchife  par  la  port  d'yvoire,  qui  eft  celle  des  faux 
fonges ;  par  la  il  detruit  toutes  les  grandes  chofes  qu'il  a  dites 
de  Rome  &  d'Augufte. 

'         ITA   PETO  VOS   MANES 

SANCTISSIMI 

COMMENDATVM    HABEATIS 

MEVM  CONIVGEM  ET   VEL- 

LITIS 

HVIC  INDVLGENTISSIMI  ESSE 

nes 


Se(5l.  4»     ofyio^E^demonftrated,  285 

nes  to  be  fo  indulgent  to  her  hufband's  fhade,  that 
ihe  may  fee  him  in  her  dreams  -,  that  is,  feem 
to  fee  him,  as  the  fhade  of  Hedor  was  feen  by 
^neas. 

In  fomnis  ecce  ante  oculos  moeftifTimiis  He6lor 

Vifus  adeffe  mihi  — 
and  this,  in  diflindtion  to  what  flie  makes  the 
other  part  of  her  prayer,  to  be  really  joined  to 
him  in  the  other  world. 

But  though  the  vifions  which  iffued  from  the 
ivory  gate  were  unfubjlantial^  as  being  only  re- 
prefentative ;  yet  I  make  no  queftion,  but  the 
ivory  gate  itfelf  was  7'eal.  It  appears,  indeed,  to 
be  no  other  than  that  fumptuous  door  of  the 
temple,  through  which  the  initiated  came  out, 
when  the  celebration  was  over.  This  temple  was 
of  an  immenfe  bignefs,  as  appears  from  the 
words  of  Apuleius  :  "  Senex  comiffimus  ducit  me 
«'  protinus  ad  ipfas  fores  ^edis  amplissim^e^'* 
Strabo  is  more  particular  :  "  Next  (fays  he)  is 
"  Eleufis,  in  which  is  the  temple  of  the  Eleufmi- 
'*  an  Ceres,  and  the  myftic  cell  built  by  Iftinus, 

"    CAPABLE    OF    HOLDING   AS   LARGE   A   NUMBER 

"  AS  A  THEATRE  s."  But  Vitruvius's  dcfcfiption 
of  it  is  flill  more  curious :  "  Eleusin^  Cereris  & 
"  Proferpin^  cellam  immani  magnitudine  Ic- 
"  tinus  Dorico  more,  fine  exterioribus  columnis 

HORIS     NOCTVRNIS 

VT    EVM    VIDEAM 

ET  ETIAM   ME  FATO   SVADERE 

VELLIT  VT  ET   EGO  POSSIM 

DVLCIVS    ET    CELERIVS 

APVD    EVM    PERVENIRE. 

Apud  Giut.  p.  7S6. 
*  Metam.  1.  xi.         £  E7t'  'E^.-fc-*!/  -ctc^k.  £"  ;^  to  t^?  Av^c-ziI^S- 

C';^^o^  ^idrga  ^s'la^ai  hvot^tviv.  —  lib.  ix,  Gfcj. 


286  7he  Divine  Legation    Book  It 

"  ad  laxamentum  ufus  facrificiorum^  pertexit.  Earn 
*'  autem  poftea,  cum  Demetrius  Phalereus  Athe- 
"  nis  rerum  potiretur,  Phiion  ante  templum  in 
"  fronte  columnis  conftitutis  Proftylon  fecit.  Ita 
<'  au^fo  Tejiikilo  laxamentum  initiantibus  operisque 
"  fttmmam  adjccit  autoritatem  **."  And  Ariftides 
thought  this  the  moft  extraordinary  circumftance 
in  the  whole  affair :  "But  the  thing  moft  won- 
"  derful  and  divine  was,  that  of  all  the  pubHc  af- 
"  femblies  of  Greece,  this  was  the  only  one  which 
*'  was  contained  within  the  walls  of  one  edifice  *.  ^ 
Here  was  room,  we  fee,  and  fo  purpofely  con- 
trived, for  all  their  shews  and  representa- 
tions. 

And  now,  having  occafionally,  and  by  parts  only, 
faid  fo  much  of  thefe  things,  it  will  not  be  amifs,  in 
conclufion  to  give  one  general  and  concife  idea  of 
the  vvhcle.  I  fuppofe  the  fubftance  of  the  celebra- 
tion  to  be  a  kind  of  drama  of  the  hiftory  of  Ceres, 
which  afforded  opportunity  to  reprefent  the  three 
particulars,  about  which  the  myfteries  were  prin- 
cipally concerned,  i.  I'he  rife  and  efiahlijhment  of 
civil  fociety.  2.  The  doElrine  of  a  future  fiat e  of  re* 
wards  and  punifmnents.  3.  "The  error  of  polytheifm^ 
and  the  principle  of  the  unity.  TheGoddefs's  legifla- 
tion  in  Sicily  and  Attica  (at  both  which  places  fhe 
was  faid  to  civilize  the  favage  manners  of  the  inha- 
bitants) gave  birth  to  xhtfirfi  ^.  Her  fearch  for  her 
daughter  Proferpine  in  hell,  to  the  fecond;  and  her 
refentments  againft  the  Gods  for  their  permiffion 

^  De  ArchitcSi.  Prsf.  ad  1.  vii. 

'  To  l\  ^J7  [jAy\^(i'i  iCj  BetoTuioi/,  ^wr,v  yxf  Txinlw  <STX>viyv^(CDy  eij 
ctx.<^  avXKuQuv  six,'-      E/cuf».  Orat. 

^  Teque,  Ceres  &  Libera,  quarum  sa  cra  —  a  quibus  ini- 
tia  vicae,  atque  viftus,  legum,  morura,  manfuetudinis  huma- 
nitatis  exempla  hominibus  et  civitatibus  data,  ac  difpertita  effe 
dicuntur.     C';V.  in  Vsrr.  v.  c.  72 > 

of, 


Sedl.  4»     cf  yiosiE.s  demonjirated.  287 

of,  or  connivance  at,  the  rape,  to  the  third  K 
But  here  let  it  be  obferved,  that  the  fecrets  of  the 
myfteries  were  unfolded  both  by  words  and  aElions : 
of  which  Ariftides,  quoted  above,  gives  the  rea- 
fon ;  "  That  lb  the  founds  and  fights  might  mu- 
"  tually  aflift  each  other  in  making  an  imprefTion 
*'  on  the  minds  of  the  initiated^'*  The  oror  cf 
polytheifm  therefore  was  as  well  expofed  by  the 
dark  wanderings  in  the  fubterraneous  palTages  thro' 
which  the  initiated  began  his  courfe,  as  by  the 
information  given  him  by  the  hierophant :  and  the 
truth  of  the  unity  as  ftrongly  illuftrated  by  the 
cw-vo7p,ov oiyoiKiAu^  the  felf-feen  image"^,  the  diffiifivc 
fhining  lights  as  by  the  hymn  of  Orpheus  ",  or  this 
fpeech  of  Anchifes, 

On  the  whole,  if  I  be  not  greatly  deceived,  the 
view  in  which  I  place  this  famous  epifode,  not 
only  clears  up  a  number  of  difficulties  inexplicable 
on  any  other  fcheme  •,  but  likewife  ennobles,  and 
gives  a  graceful  finifhing  to,  the  whole  poem  ; 
for  now  the  epifode  is  feen  to  be  an  eflential  pare 
of  the  main  fubjedt,  which  is  the  erection  of 

A   CIVIL  POLICY   AND  A  RELIGION.       Fot  Cuftom 

had  made  initiation  into  the  myfteries  a  necelTary 
preparative  to  that  arduous  undertaking. 

But  there  is  no  place  in  this  admirable  Poem, 
even  to  the  shield  of  ^Eneas,  which  will  not 
in(lru6t  us  how  confiderable  a  ftation  the  myfteries 
held  in  public  life  ;  and  how  neceflary  they  were 
fuppoied  to  be  to  the  full  equipage  of  a  hero. 

The  ornaments  on  this  Ihield  confifl  of  two 


'^  This  circumftance  Apollodorus  informs  us  of;    his  words 

are  thefe  :  yioAHo-a.  ^\  zsx^  '■^i^ri'.'zU'>,   oVi  nxarfci'  ax>-:r,\i  r^'TTot- 

cr.i/,    OPriZOMENH   ©EOIE   AOEAmEN  OTPANON"    Hua^iT^a. 
ol  yv'jaiz),  .r,x:-v  sK  'E^£l'!7»>a.     SioL  I.  i.  C.  5. 
^y  See  note  (1)  p.  272.  "  Seep.  177. 


principal 


sSS  ^he  Divine  Legation    Book  If. 

principal  parts  or  ftories,  very  differently  execu- 
ted. The  firft,  a  Jooie  fketch  of  the  foundation 
and  early  fortunes  of  Rome  ;  the  fecond,  a  highly 
finifhed  pifture  of  the  vidory  of  Adium.  Thefe 
fo  diOlmilar  pieces  feem  to  be  as  oddly  connected  j 
by  a  fuddcn  jump  into  the  other  world. 

Hinc  procul  addit 
Tartareas  etiam  fedes,  alta  oftia  Ditis  ; 
Etfceleruni  posnas,  &  te,  Catilina,  minaci 
Pendentem  fcopulo,  Furiarumque  ora  trementem  ; 
Secretosque  pios  ;  his  dantem  jura  Catonem  °. 
But  there  is  more  in  this  difpofition  than  appears 
at  iirfl  fight.     The  feverai  parts  make  an  uniform 
and  connedied  whole.     The  firfb  of  the  two  prin- 
cipal parts,  we  have  obferved,  is  a  view  of  the 
foundation  andfirfh  efhabhfhment  of  ancient  Rome. 
Now  Dionylius  of  Halicar.  tells  us,  that  this  city 
was  in  nothing  more  excellent,  or  worthy  of  imi- 
tation, than  in  the  genius  of  its  national  religion  ; 
which  was  fo  conftrucled,  as  to  be  always  ready  to 
render  fervicc  to  the  ftate.     Hence  Virgil,  when 
he  has  brought  us  to  the  time  that  tlieir  civil  efta- 
blifhment  was  perfeftly  fecured  by  the  flaughter 
and  difperfion  of  the  Gauls, 

(Scutis  protecli  corpora  longis,) 
goes  on  to  the  religious  conftitution  : 
His  exultantes  Salios,  nudosque  Lupercos, 
Lanigerosque  apices,  &  lapfa  ancilia  coelo 
Excuderat :  cafts  ducebant  facra  per  urbem 
Pilentis  matres  in  moilibus  — 
Now  Strabo  obfcrves,  that  the  ancient  pagan  reli- 
gion confifted  of  two  parts,  the  open  and  the  se- 
cret p.    The  openVir^iX  has  given  us  in  the  Salian 
and  Lupercal  rites.  What  remained  was  xht  ferr-et -^ 

"  L,  yiii.        P  Lib.  X.     See  above,  p- 137. 

and 


Std:.  4.       of  Most s  demohll rated,         287 

of,  or  connivance  at,  the  rape,  to  the  third^. 
My  fuppofition,  of  the  dramatic  nature  of  the 
fhews,  is  not  made  without  good  authority. 
Lucian,  in  his  Alexander^  where  he  gives  a  large 
account  of  the  impoftures  of  that  falfe  prophet, 
rpeaking  of  the  myjleries  which  he  inftituted,  ia 
honour  of  his  new-found  God,  Glycoj  fays,  they 
were  celebrated  (after  the  ufual  preparatory  rites 
of  torch-bearings  initiation,  and  public  notice  to 
the  prophane  to  keep  at  diftance,)  by  a  three  Days 
feftival :  '*  On  the  firft  day  was  reprefented  the 
*'  labour  of  Latona  and  the  Nativity  of  Apollo ;  the 
"  nuptials  of  Ceronis;  and  the  birth  of  ^fculapius. 
"  On  the  fecond,  the  appearance  of  Glyco,  and  the 
"  generation  of  the  god  :  and  on  the  third,  the  ma- 
"  riage  of  Podalirius  with  the  mother  of  Alexan- 
"  der."  ">  Every  thing  in  thefe  rites  being  per- 
formed, as  the  turn  of  the  learned  author's  relation 
neceflarily  implies,  in  imitation  of  ancieiit  ufage. 
But  here  let  it  be  obferved,  that  the  fecrets  of  the 
myileries  were  unfolded  both  by  words  and  alliens  : 
of  which  AriftideS)  quoted  above,  gives  the  rca- 
fon  ;  "  That  fo  the  founds  and  Jtghis  might  mu- 
*'  tually  aflift  each  other  in  making  an  impreffion 
''  on  the  minds  of  the  initiated^  The  error  of 
polytheifm  therefore  was  as  well  expofed  by  the 
dark  wanderings  in  the  fubterraneous  paffages  thro* 
which  the  Initiated  began  his  courfe,  as  by  the 
information  received  from  the  hierophant :  and  the 
truth  of  the  unity  as   ftrongly   illuftrated  by  the 

'  This  circumftiince  ApoUodorus  informs  us  of;  his  Words 

tfrC  thefe  :    Ma&y^a  ^i  tsa^    If^'/jvEwv,    OTI    IlAtiTft.'i'   atTr,F  r,fira» 

CiVy   OPnZOMENH   GEOiS   AnEAIilEN    OTPANON'    tiKXffQiTcret 
at   yvvociKi,    viiuv  it;    tAivattx., 

^  AjjJa?   iyifvno    ^o^ciar,  xj  A^r^AXi'i'^?  yova),  k^  Ko^unSu^  yafioif 
jcj  'A<rK7\V!rioi    fTixlsTo*    111  ^6  TV)  ^iuTJ^x  rXy>ti^i'o;  ETTipaviJi  kJ  yivtaif 

V  0  L.    L  U  cuStiTr^ 


i88  'The  Divine  Legation      Book  II. 

oZfTOTrlov  «y«A/ui«,  ihc  felf-feen  mage",  the  difFufivc 
Jhining  light,  as  by  the  hymn  of  Orpheus'",  or  this 
fpeech  of  Anchifes. 

On  the  whole,  if  I  be  not  much  deceived,  the 
view  in  which  I  place  this  famous  epifode,  not 
only  clears  up  a  number  of  difficulties,  inexplicable 
on  any  other  fcheme  -,  but  likewife  heightens  and 
ennobles  the  whole  poem  ;  for  now  the  epifode  is 
feen  to  be  an   effential  part  of  the  main  fubjed, 

which  is  THE   ERECTION  OF  A  CIVIL  POLICY   AND 

A  RELIGION  •,  cuftom  having  made  initiation  into 
the  »?)/m^j  a  neceffary  preparative  for  that  arduous 
undertaking. 

But  there  is  no  place  in  this  admirable  Poem, 
even  to  the  shield  of  ^Eneas,  which  will  not 
inftruft  us  how  confiderable  a  ftation  the  myste- 
ries held  in  public  life  -,  and  how  neceffary  they 
were  fuppofed  to  be,  to  compleat  the  equipage  of  a 
hero. 

The  ornaments  on  this  Ihield  confifl  of  two 
principal  parts  or  ftories,  very  differently  execu- 
ted. The  firft,  a  loofe  fketch  of  the  foundation 
and  early  fortunes  of  Rome  ;  the  fecond,  a  highly 
finifhed  pifture  of  the  vidory  of  Adium.  Thefe 
fo  difllmilar  pieces  feem  to  be  as  oddly  connected  -, 
by  a  fudden  jump  unto  the  other  world. 

Hinc  proGul  addit 
Tartareas  etiam  fedes,  alta  oftia  Ditis  j 
Et  fcelerum  poenas,  &  te,  Catilina,  minaci 
Pendentem  fccpulo,  Furiarumque  ora  trementem ; 
Secretosque  pios  -,  his  dantem  jura  Catonem  p. 
But  there  is  more  in  this  difpofition  than  appears 
at  firft  fight.    The  feveral  parts  make  an  uniform 
and  conne(5i:ed  Syftem.     The  firft  ot  the  two  prin- 
cipal parts,  we  have  obferved,  is  a  view   of  the 

«  Sce>ote  (1)  p.  2  72.  f  See  p.  1 77,         p  Lib.  viii. 

foun- 


Sed.  4-     I?/' Moses  demonjlrated,         289 

foundation  and  firft  eftablifliment  of  ancient  Rome. 
Now  Diony fills  of  Halicarnaffus  tells  us,  that  this 
city,was  in  nothing  more  excellent,  or  worthy  ofimi- 
tation  than  in  the  genius  of  its  national  religion; 
which  was  fo  conftrudted,  as  to  be  always  ready  to 
render  fervice  to  the  State.  Hence,  Virgil,  when 
he  has  brought  us  to  the  time  that  their  rm7  efta- 
blifliment was  perfetflly  fecured  by  the  Daughter 
and  difperfion  of  the  Gauls, 

(Scutis  protedti  corpora  longis,) 
goes  on  to  the  religious  conftitution  : 
Hie  exultantes  Salios,  nudosque  Lupercos, 
Lanigerosque  apices,  &  lapfa  ancilia  coelo 
Excuderat :  caftae  ducebant  facra  per  urbem 
Pilentis  matres  in  moilibus  — 
Now  Strabo  obferves,  that  the  ancient  pagan  reli- 
gion confifted  of  two  parts,  the  open  and  the  se- 
cret ''.  The  c/>^«,  Virgil  hath  given  us  In  the  Salian 
and  Lupercal  rites.  What  remainedwas  the  y^cr^/; 
and  this  he  prefents  to  us  in  an  oblique  defcri- 
ption  of  the  myjieries  •,  where  (as  we  have  fhewn) 
the  fcenes  of  a  future  jiate  were  exhibited  to  the 
initiated. 

Hinc  procul  addit 
Tartareas  etiam  sedes,  alta  oftia  Ditis; 
Et  fcelerum  poenas,  &  te,  Catihna,  minaci 
Pendentem  fcopulo,  Furiarumque  ora  trementem ; 
Secretosque  pios  •,  his  dantem  jura  Catonem. 
So  that,  as  before,  a  particular  initiation  into 
the  Myjieries  was  meant  by  ^neas*s  defcent  to  the 
infernal  regions  -,  here,  the  general  celebration 
of  them  is  to  be  underftood  by  this  contradted 
view  of  Tartarus  and   Elyfium. 

As  this  meaning  feems  necefTary  to  give  com- 
mon propriety  to  the  defcription  of  the  fhieid,  there 

%  Lib.  X. 

U2  ^         is 


290         The  Divine  LegatioH        Book  II. 

is  reafon,  I  think,  for  receiving  it.  And  if  we  allow^ 
that  the  myjleries  are  here  reprefented  under  the  idea 
of  the  infernal  regions^  we  gain  a  new  argument 
in  favour  of  the  interpretation  of  the  fixth  book. 

If  it  be  afked  why  Cato  is  put,  as  it  were,  in  the 
place  of  Minos ;  and  Catiline,  of  Tityus ;  the  an- 
fwer  will  let  us  into  another  beauty.  It  is  a  fine 
infinuation,  that  thefe  foreign  rites  of  Eleufis  de- 
ferved  to  be  naturalized  at  Rome.  In  which  he 
only  followed  the  opinion  of  Cicero  '. 

Here  it  may  not  be  improper  to  take  notice 
of  a  vulgar  miftake,  as  old  at  leaft  as  Servius, 
that  Cato  the  cenfor,  and  not  Cato  of  Utica,  is 
meant  in  this  place ;  as  if  the  court  poet  would 
not  dare  to  celebrate  the  profefTed  enemy  of  the 
Julian  houfe.  This  made  the  critics  feek  out  for 
a  Cato  of  a  diftant  age,  to  brave  Catiline  in  Hell ; 
when  they  might  have  feen  it  could  be  no  other 
than  his  great  contemporary,  who  had  before  with- 
ftood  him  in  Rome.  And  the  circumftances  in 
which  the  poet  places  them,  feem  plainly  to  allude 
to  the  famous  conteft  between  Cato  and  Cjefar,  in 
full  fenate,  concerning  the  fate  of  Catiline's  follow- 
ers ;  whom  Cato  was  for  fending  to  the  infernal 
regions,  to  receive  their  final  doom  from  the  judges 
of  hell :  to  evade  this  fentencc,  Crefar  took  occa- 
fion  to  laugh  at  the  notion  of  a  future  ftate  :  As  the 
other,  for  a  contrary  reafon,  fet  himfelf  to  fupport 
and  defend  it.     The  laft  line, 

Secretosqije  pios  j  his  dantem  jura  Catonem, 
was  probably  a  compliment  to  Cato  in  his  little 
fenate  at  Utica. 

All  this  confidered,  we    fee    the  reafon,   the 
great  artift  had  to  call  his  pi6lure, 

Clypei  non  enarrabile  textum. 

f  Sec  p.  187. 

And 


Sed.  4'    of  Mo s-ES    demonjlrated.  291 

And  now  the  principle  o^  thtjixth  book  being 
further  fupported  by  this  collateral  circumftance, 
it  will  enable  us  to  difcover  and  explain  another 
beauty  in  the  feventh ;  which  depending  on  this 
principle,  could  not  be  leen  till  it  was  eftablifhed. 

If  the  recommendation  of  the  myjieries  was  of 
fuch  importance  in  an  epic  poem  of  this  fpecies ; 
and  if,  at  the  time  of  writing,  many  of  the  myjie- 
ries  were  become  abominably   corrupt,    we   can 
hardly  believe  but  that  the  poet,  after  he  had  fo 
largely  expatiated  in  praife    of  thofe  that  were 
holy   and   ufeful,  would  take  care  toftigmatizc 
fuch  as  were  become  notorioufly  profligate :  be- 
caufe  this  tended  equally  with  the  other,  to  vindi- 
cate, what  he  had  in  view,    the  honour  of  the 
inftitution.     And   what  ftrengthens  this  conjec- 
ture, is  the  hmilar  condu6t  of  another  great  wri- 
ter of  antiquity  upon  the  fame  fubjeft,  whom  we 
are  now  coming  to,  Apuleius  of  iVIadaura,  whofe 
Metamorphofis  is  written  altogether  in  this  view  of 
recommending  the  -pagan  myjieries  \  in  which,  as  we 
fball   find,    he   hath   been  no  lefs  circumftantial 
in  reprobating  the  corrupt  myfteries  of  the  Syri- 
an GODDESS  than  in  extolling  the  pure  rites  of  the 
Egyptian  Is  is.   A  condud  fo  much  alike,  that 
the  two  cafes  will  ferve  mutually  to  fupport  what 
is  here  faid  of  either. 

This  then  feems  a  neceffary  part  in  the  plan  of 
Virgil's  Poem.  But  it  was  no  eafy  matter  to  ex* 
ecute  it.  Another  allegory  would  have  been  without 
grace  -,  nor  was  there  any  repofe  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  a£tion  of  the  poem,  as  in  the  former,  to 
admit  a  digrcffion  of  fuch  a  length.  On  the  other 
hand,  to  condemn  all  corrupt  myjieries^  in  the  plain 
way  of  a  judiciary  fentence,did  not  fuitthe  nature 
of  his  poem  :  or  if  it  had  fuited  it,  could  it  have 
been  ufed,  without   hurting  the  uniform  texture 

U  3  of 


292  ^be  Dhine  Legation      Book  II. 

of  the  work ;  after  the  pure  rites  had  been  fo  co- 
vertly recommended  under  figures  and  fidions. 

The  poet,  therefore,  with  admirable  invention, 
hath  contrived,  in  the  next  book,  to  render  the 
mod  corrupt  of  the  myfteries,  the  fecret  rites  of 
Bacchus,  very  odious,  by  making  them  the  in- 
ftrument  to  traverfe  the  defigns  of  providence,  in 
the  eftablifhment  of  his  Plero  •,  and  by  putting  a 
Fury  on  the  office  of  exciting  the  ajpirants^  to  the 
celebration  of  them.  Amata,  the  mother  of  Lavi- 
nia,  in  order  to  violate  the  league  commenced  be- 
tween ^neas  and  Latinus,  contrives,  at  the  infti- 
gation  of  Alefto,  to  fecrete  her  daughter  ;  and  to 
devote  and  confecrate  her  to  Bacchus,  in  an  ini- 
tiation into  one  of  his  abominable  rites. 

SiMULATO  numine  Bacchi 

Majus  adorta  nefas,  maioremque  orfa  furoremj 

Evolat,  &  natam  frondofis  montibus  abdit'; 

Quo  thalamum  eripiat  Teycris,  tedasque   mo- 
retur  : 

Evoe,  Bacche !    fremens  solum    te    virgine 

DIGNUM* 

Vociferans  — 

Fama  volat :  Furiisque  accenfas  peftore  matres. 

Idem  omnis  firpul  ardor  agit,  nova  quaerere  tedla 

Deferuere  domos  — 

Clamat :  lo,  matres  —- 

Solvite  crinales  vittas,  capite  orgia  mecum. 

Taiem  inter  fylvas,  inter  deferta  ferarum 

Reginam    Alecto    stimulis    agit  undique 
Bacchi \ 
The  myfteries  of  Bacchus  were  well  chofen  for  ari 
example  of  corrupted  rites,  and  of  the  mifchiefs  they 

s  Liyy,  we  have  feen,  in  his  account  of  thefe  rites  of  Bac- 
chus,  fays,  "  Raptos  a  Diis  homines  dici,  quos  machins  illigatos 
*f  ex  confpeclu  in  abditos  fpecus  abripiant.", 

*  Lib.  vii. 

pro- 


Sed.  4.     <?/  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrafed,  293 

produced ;  for  they  were  early,  and  flagrantly  cor- 
rupted. But  his  principal  reafon  for  this  choice, 
I  fuppofe,  was  a  very  extraordinary  ftory  he  found 
in  the  Roman  annals,  of  the  horrors  committed  in 
that  city,  during  the  clandeftine  celebration  of  the 
Bacchic  rites  -,  which  Livy  has  tranfcribed  very  cir- 
cumftantially  into  the  thirty-ninth  book  of  his 
Hijiory. 

Nor  did  the  poet  think  he  had  done  enough,  in 
reprefenting  the  corrupt  myjieries  under  thefe  cir- 
cumftances  of  diicredit,  without  fpecifying  the 
mifchiefs  they  produced ;  nor  that  he  had  fufii- 
ciently  diftinguifhed  them  from  the  pure,  without 
fhewing  thofe  mifchiefs  to  be  fuch  as  the  pure  had 
condemned,  and  providentially  obviated. 

The  next  news,  therefore,  we  hear  of  Amata, 
after  her  celebration  of  the  rites  of  Bacchus,  is  her 
SUICIDE,  and  a  fuicide  of  the  moft  ignominious 
kind. 
Purpureos  moritura  manu  difcindit  amicus, 
Et  nodum  i?tformis  leti  trabe  neftit  ab  alta. 
I'his  difafter  the  poet  makes  Jupiter  charge  upon 
Juno;  who,  by  the  miniftry  of  Alecflo,  excited 
Amata  to  an  initiation, 

Terris  agitare  vel  undis 
Trojanos  potuilli :  infandum  accendere  bellum,  ^ 
Deformare  domum,  &  lu6lu  mifcere  hymen- 

2E0S. 

Suicide,  as  wc  learn  by  Plato  %  the  holy  my^ 
Jieries  exprefly  forbad  and  condemned.  On  which 
account  our  poet,  in  his  allegorical  defcription  of 
what  was  reprefented  in  the  Eleufinian,  has  placed 
thefe  criminals  in  a  ftate  of  milery. 
I'roxima  deinde  tenent  moefti  loca,  qui  fibi  Ic- 
thum  — . 

'  See  above,  p.  2cc. 

U  4  Thus 


294  ^^  Divine  Legation       Book  II. 

Thus  nobly  hath  Virgil  completed  his  defign  on  the 
fubjed  of  the  mysteries.  The  hero  of  the  poem 
is  initiated  into  the  moft  pure  and  holy  of  them  ; 
his  capital  enemy,  into  the  moil  impure  and  cor- 
rupt ',  and  the  fchemes  and  intrigues  of  either  party 
have  a  correfpondent  ifTue. 

To  conclude,  the  principles  here  atTumed,  in 
explaining  this  famous  poetical  iidion,  are,  1  pre- 
fume,  fuch  as  give  folidity,  as  well  as  light,  to 
what  is  deduced   from  them  ;  and  are,   perhaps, 
the  only  principles  from  which  any  thing  reafon- 
able  can  be  deduced  in  a  piece  of  criticifm  of  this 
nature.     For  from  what  I  had  Ihewn  v/as  taught 
and    reprefented    in    the   myfieries^   I    infer   that 
j^neas's  descent  into  hell  fignifies  an  initia- 
tion J  becaufe  of  the  exacft  conformity,  in  all  cir- 
cumftances,   between   what  Virgil   relates    of  his 
hero's  adventure,  and  what  antiquity  delivers  con- 
cerning the  SHEWS  and  doctrines  of  thofe  mys- 
teries, into  which  heroes  were  wont  to  be  in- 
itiated.    On    the    contrary,    had   I    gratuitoufly 
fuppofed,     without   any    previous   knowledge   of 
what  was  praftifed  in   the  myfieries^   tliat  the   def- 
cent  was  an  initiation^  merely    becaufe  Auguftus 
(who  was  fnadowed  under  the  perfon   of  iEneas) 
,was  initiated  \   and  thence  inferred,  that    the  my- 
fteries  did  exhibit  the  fame  fcenes  which  the  Poet 
hath    made   Hell  to    exhibit    to    his    Hero,     my 
explanation  had   been    as    devoid    of   any    folid 
inference,     as  of    any   rational    principle.      And 
yet  if  authority  could   fupport  fo  impertinent  a 
piece  of  reafoning,  we  had  a  very  confiderable  one 
at  our  fervice.     A   celebrated   writer,  in    a    tradt 
intitled  Re^etJions   on  the    chara£fer   of  lapis  in 
Virgil^   goes   altogether  on    this  gratuitous    kind 
of  criticifm.     Without   any  previous  knowledge 
of  the  life  and  fortunes   of  Aj^jtonius    Musa, 

the 


Setft.  4.     of  Moses  demonftrated.  295 

the  phyfician  of  Aiiguftus,  he  fuppoies  that  Virgil 
meant  this  perfon  by  I  a  pis,   merely  becaufe  Au- 
guftus  was  meant  by  ^neas.     And  then,  from 
what  the  poet  tells  us  of  lapis's  hiftory,  the  critic 
concludes  it  muft  have  made  part  of  the  hiftory  of 
Mufa ;  and  fo,   inftead  of  explaining  a  fable  by 
hiftory,    he  would  regulate  hiftory    on  a  fable. 
Whereas  the  principles  of  true  criticifrn   fhould 
have  directed  him  to  inquire  previoufly  what  anti- 
quity had  left  us,  concerning  the  perfon  of  An- 
tonius  Mufa  :  and  if,  on  comparing  what  he  found, 
with  what  Virgil   has  delivered  concerning  lapis, 
there  appeared  any  ftrong  refemblance  ;  then,  and 
not  till  then,  his  ingenious  conje6lure,  that  lapis 
was  Mufa^  would  ftand  upon  a  reafonable  bottom. 
It  was  not  thus  that  an  able  critic  ^  lately  explained 
Virgil's   noble  allegory,   in  the  beginning  of  the 
third  Georgic  ;  where,  under  the  idea  of  a  mag- 
nificent Temple,  to  be   raifed  to  the  Divinity  of 
Auguftus  i  the  poet  promifes  the  famous  epic  poem 
which  he  afterwards  ereded  in  his  honour;  or,  as 
our  Milton  fays, 

—— *'  built  the  lofty  rhime. 
But  had  the  exiftence  of  fuch  a  poem  never  come 
to  our  knowledge,  I  am  perfuaded,  this  excellent 
writer  had  never  troubled  the  world  with  fo  flender 
aconjefture  that  a  Temple  fignified  an  epic  poem  5 
and  therefore  that  Virgil  executed,  or  at  leaft  in- 
tended, fuch  a  work.  In  truth.  Critics  fhould  pro- 
ceed in  thefe  enquiries  about  their  author's  fecret 
meaning,  with  the  fame  caution  and  fobriety 
which  Courts  of  Juftice  employ  in  the  deted:ion 
of  concealed  criminals  -,  who  take  care,  in  the  firft 
place   to   be  well   alTured  of  the   corpus  deli^i, 

^  See  Hor.  Ef.  ad  Augujl.  ixith  an  Engl.  Cemm.  and  Nofes^ 
p.  36. 

before 


296  The  Divine  Legation      Book  IL 

before  they  venture  to  charge  the  fad  upon  any- 
one. 

Thus  far  concerning  the  ufe  of  the  mysteries 
to  SOCIETY.  How  ejfential  they  were  efteemed 
to  RELIGION,  we  may  underftand  by  the  meta- 
morphosis OF  Apuleius  ;  a  book,  indeed,  which 
from  its  very  firfl:  appearance  hath  pafled  for  a  tri- 
vial fable.  CapitoHnus,  in  the  Hfe  of  Clodius  Albi- 
nus,  where  he  fpeaks  of  that  kind  of  tales  which 
difconcert  the  gravity  of  philofophers,  tells  us  that 
Severus  could  not  bear  with  patience  the  honours 
the  Senate  had  conferred  on  Albinus  ;  cfpecially 
their  diftinguilhing  him  with  the  title  of  learned^ 
who  was  grown  old  in  the  ftudy  of  old-wives-fa- 
bles, fuch  as  the  Milefian-Punic  tales  of  his  coun- 
tryman and  favourite,  Apuleius :  "  Major  fuit 
(fays  Severus,  in  his  letter  to  the  fenate  on  this 
occafion)  **  dolor  quod  ilium  pro  literafo  laudan^ 
"  dum  plerique  duxiilis,  quum  ille  nsniis  quibuf- 
*'  dam  anilibus  occupatus  inter  Milejias  Punicas 
**  Apuleii  fui  et  ludicra  literaria  confenefceret." 
That  poor,  modern-fpirited  critic,Macrobius,  talks 
too  of  Apuleius  in  the  fame  ftrain. — "  Nee  om- 
"  nibus  fabulis  Philofophia  repugnat,  nee  omnibus 
*'  acquiefcit — Fabulse,  aut  tantum  conciliandas  au- 
"  ribus  voluptatis  aut  adhortationis  quoque  in  bo- 
*'  nam  frugem  gratia  repertse  funt,  auditum  mul- 
**cent;  velutcomcedijei  quales  Menander  ejufve 
*' imitatores  agendas  dederunt :  vel  argumenta 
"  fi(5i:is  cafibus  amatorum  referta  •,  quibus  vel  mul- 
"  tum  fe  yfr^//fr  exercuit,  vel  Apuleium  nonnun- 
"  quam  Itifijfe  miramur.  Hoc  totum  fabularum 
"  genus,  quodfolas  aurium  delicias  frojitetiir^  e  facra- 
**  rio  fiioinnutricumcunas  fapientia  trail atus  elimi- 
"  nat  *,  "—However  he  feems  to  wonder  that  Apu- 
leius ihould  trifle  fo  egregioudy :  and  well  he  might. 

^  Lib.  i.  c.  2. 

c  For 


Sed.  4'     0/ Moses  detnonjlrated.  297 

For  the  writer  of  the  Metamoi  phofis  was  one  of 
the  graveft  and  moft  vijrtuous,  as  well  as  mofl  learn- 
ed, philofophers  of  his  age.  But  Albinus  ap- 
pears to  have  gone  further  into  the  true  chara- 
fter  of  this  work,  than  his  rival  Severus.  And 
if  we  may  believe  Marcus  Aurelius,  who  calls 
Albinus,  "  homo  exercitatus,  vita  triflis,  gra- 
^'  vis  moribus  y,"  he  was  not  a  man  to  be  ta- 
ken with  fuch  trifling  amufements  as  Milefian  fa- 
bles. His  fondnefs  therefore  for  the  Metamor' 
fhofts  of  Apuleius  Ihews,  that  he  confidered  it  in 
another  light.  And  who  fo  likely  to  be  let  into 
the  author's  true  defign,  as  Albinus,  who  lived 
very  near  his  time,  and  was  of  Adrumetum  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Carthage,  where  Apuleius  fo- 
journed  and  ftudied,  and  was  diftinguiflied  with 
public  honours .''  The  work  is  indeed  of  a  dif- 
ferent character  from  what  fom>e  ancients  have  re- 
prefented  it ;  and  even  from  what  modern  critics  have 
pretended  to  difcover  of  it.  Thofe  ancients,  who 
ftuck  in  the  outfide,  confidered  it,  without  re- 
finement, as  an  idle  fable  •  the  moderns,  who 
could  not  reconcile  a  work  of  that  nature  to  the 
gravity  of  the  author's  chara6ler,  have  fuppofed  it 
a  thing  of  more  importance,  and  no  lefs  than  a 
general  fatire  on  the  vices  of  thofe  times  :  "  Tota 
"  porro  haec  metamorphofis  Apuleiana  (fays  Mr. 
Fleuri^)  "  &  ftylo  &  fententia,  fatyricon  ell  per- 
"  petuum,  ut  refte  obfervavit  Barthius,  Adverf. 
"  lib.  li.  cap.  I  r.  in  quo  magica  deliria,  facrificu- 
"  lorum  fcelera,  adulterorum  crimina,  furum  & 
"  latronum  impunitse  fadionespalamdifferuntur.'* 
But  this  is  far  fhort  of  the  matter.  The  author's 
main  purpofe  was  not  to  fatyrize  the  fpecinc  'vices  of 
his  age  (tho*  to  enliven  his  fable,  and  for  the  better 

yCapitolinus,  in  Claud,  Alb,        '  £d.  Ap.  in  uf.  Delph. 

carrying 


298  ^he  Divine  Legation      Book  H. 

carrying  on  his  ftory,  he  hath  employed  many  cir- 
cumftances  of  this  kind)  but;  to  recommend  Pagan 
Religion  as  the  only  cure  for  all  vice  whatfo- 
ever. 

To  give  what  we  have  to  fay  its  proper  force, 
we  muft  confider  the  real  charadler  of  the  writer. 
Apuleius,  of  Madaura  in  Afric,  was  a  devoted 
Platonift  •,  and,  like  the  Platonifts  of  that  age,  an 
inveterate  enemy  to  Chriftianity.  His  zeal  tor  the 
honour  of  philofophy  is  feen  in  that  folemn  af- 
firmation, when  convened  before  a  court  of  juftice, 
f*-  Philofophise  honorem  qui  mihi  falute  mea  anti- 
"  quior  eft,  nufquam  minui^"  His  fuperfti- 
tious  attachment  to  the  religion  of  his  country  is 
feen  in  his  immoderate  fondnefs  for  the  myste- 
ries. Ke  was  initiated,  as  himfelf  tells  us, 
into  almoft  all  of  them  :  and,  in  fome,  bore 
the  moft  diftinguifhed  offices.  In  his  Apoiogy 
before  the  proconful  of  Africa,  he  fays,  "  Vin' 
*'  dicam,  cujufmodi  illas  res  in  fudario  obvolutas, 
<'  laribus  Pontiani  commendarim  ?  Mos  tibi  gere- 
**  tur.  Sacrorum  pleraque  Initia  in  Gracia  ■partici- 
*-^  pavt.  Eorum  quaedam  figna  &  monumenta 
"  tradita  mihi  a  ficerdotibus  fedulp  confervo.  Ni- 
"  hil  infoUtum,  nihil  incognitum  dico:  vel  unius 
*'  Liberi  Patris  Symmiftse,  qui  adeftis,  fcitis,  quid 
"  domi  conditum  celetis,  &  abfque  omnibus  pro- 
**  fanis  tacite  veneremini.  At  ego^  ut  dixi^  mulii- 
'■'■  juga  facra  et  plurimos  riius,  varias  ceremonias^ 
*«  STUD  10  VE  R 1  ^/  officio  cfga  Deos^  didici.  Nee  hoc 
*'  ad  tempus  compono  :  fed  abhinc  ferme  trien- 
"  nium  eft,  cum  primisdiebus  quibus  CEam  vene- 
*'  ram,  pubUce  J///^r^;w<^^  jEsculapii  majestate 
?*  eadem  ifta  pra;  me  tuli,  &  quot  facra  noifem 
«'  percenfui.     £a    difputacio    celebratiftima   eft  i 

Jp!.  p.  114.  Ed,  Pn'c. 

«<  vujgo 


St(ft.  4-     ^/ Moses  demonjlraiid,  299 

**  vLilgo  legitur ;  in  omnium  manibus  verfatur  ; 
"  non  tarn  facundia  mea,  quam  mentione  y^fcu- 
"  lapii  relgiofis  Qienfibus  commendata.  —  Eti- 
*'  amne  cuic  uam  mirum  videri  poteft,  cui  fit  ulJa 
*'  memoria  leligionis,  hominem  tot  myjleriis  Deum 
"  confcium  qu^euam  facrorum  crepundia  domi  ad- 
*'  fervare'*  ?  "  His  attachment  to  the  o;pen  worfhip 
of  Paganifm  was  not  interior  to  the  fecret^  as 
appears  by  what  follows  from  the  fame  Apo- 
logy :  —  "  Morem  mihi  habco,  quoquo  earn,  Ii- 
*'  mulacrum  alicujus  Dei  inter  libellos  conditum 
"  geftare  •,  eique  diebus  fellis  thure  &  mero  &  ali- 
"  quando  viftimis  fupplicare'."  His  great  devo- 
tion to  Paganifm,  therefore,  muft  needs  have  been 
attended  with  an  equal  averfion  to  Chriilianity ; 
and  it  is  more  than  probable,  that  the  oration  he 
fpeaks  of  as  made  in  honour  of  ^Efculapius,  was 
in  the  number  of  thofe  invectives,  at  that  timefo 
well  received  by  the  enemies  of  our  holy  faith.  For, 
not  to  infift  on  the  fuccefs  of  his  oration,  which,  he 
tells  us,  was  in  every  body's  hands,  a  thing  com- 
mon to  difcourfes  on  fubjeds  that  engage  the  pub- 
lic attention,  but  rarely  the  fortune  of  fuch  Hale 
ware  as  panegyrics  on  a  God  long  worn  into  an 
eftablifhment  •,  not,  I  fay,  to  infift  upon  this,  we 
may  obferve  that  ^fculapius  was  one  of  thofe  an- 
cient heroes  **,  who  were  employed,  by  the  de- 
fenders of  Paganifm,  to  oppofe  to  Jesus  ;  and  the 
circumftances  of  iEfculapius's  ftory  made  him  the 
fitteft  of  any  in  fabulous  antiquity,  for  that  purpofe. 
Ovid,  who  lived  before  thefe  times  of  danger  to  the 
pagan  Gods,  and  indeed,  before  the  coming  of 
that  Deliverer  who  gave  occafion  to  fo  many  im- 

^  Apologia,  p.  63 — 4.  Ed.  a  Pricseo,  Far.  1635,  4to. 

^Apologia,  p   72. 

d  i>ce  Cyxill,  iont. 'Julian.  1,  vi. 

pious 


200  The  Divine  Legation      Book  IL 

pious  comparifons,  hath  yet  made  Ochirroe,  iri 
contemplation  of  his  future  actions,  prophefyof  him 
in  fuch  ftrains  as  prefented  to  his  excellent  Tranfla- 
tor  the  image  of  the  true  phyjician  of  mankind;  and 
thereby  enabled  him  to  give  afublime  tohisverfionj 
which  is  not  borrowed  from  his  original. 

Ergo  ubi  vaticinos  concepit  mente  furoresj 
Incaluitque  Deo,  quem  ciaufam  pedlore  habebat  j 
Afpicit  infantem,  totique  falutifer  orbi 
Crefce,  puer,  dixit:  tibi  fe  mortalia  faspe 
Corpora  debebunt :  animas  tibi  reddere  ademptas 
Fas  erit.     Idquefemelj  dis  indignantibus,  aufus^ 
Pofle   dare  hoc  iterum  flamma  prohibebere  avita  2 
Eque  deo  corpus  fies  exfangue,  deufque, 
Qui  modo  corpus  eras^  &  bis  tua  fatanovabis. 

Ovid, 

Once  as  the  facred  Infant  fhe  furvey'd j 

The  God  was  kindled  in  the  raving  maidj 

And  thus  fhe  utter'd  her  prophetic  tale: 

*'  Hail,  great  phyfician  of  the  world,  all  hail ; 

*'  Hail,  mighty  Infant,  who  in  years  to  come, 

*'  Shalt  heal  the  nations  and  defraud  the  tomb  ; 

"  Swift  be  thy  growth,  thy  triumphs  unconfin'd  ! 

*'  Make  kingdoms   thicker,  and    increaf  e  man- 

"     "  kind. 

*'  Thy  daring  artfhall  animate  the  dead, 

*'  And  draw  the  thunder  on  thy  guilty  head  : 

•'  Then  (halt  thou  die SiBut  from  the  dark  abode 

"  Rife  up  vidlorious,  and  be  twice  a  God, 

Addison, 

Having  feen  what  there  was  in  the  common 
paflion  of  his  fedl,  and  in  his  own  fond  mode  of 
fuperftition,  to  indifpofe  Apuleius  to  Chrijlianity  j 
let  us  inquire  what  private  provocation  he  might 
have  to  prejudice  him  againft  it :  for,  a  private  pro- 

voca- 


SqO:.  4»     ^  Mo  s  E  s  demonjirated.  301 

vocation,  I  am  perfiiadcd,  he  had  ;  occafioned  by 
a  perlonal  injury  done  him  by  one  di  this  -prof ejfion  $ 
which,  I  fuppofe,  did  not  a  little  contribute  to 
exafperate  his  bigottry.  He  had  married  a  rich 
widow,  againft  the  will  of  her  firfl  hufband's  rela- 
tions ;  who  endeavoured  to  fet  afide  the  marriage 
on  pretence  of  his  employing  forcery  and  en- 
chantments to  engage  her  affedtions.  Of  this,  he 
was  judicially  accuied  by  his  wife's  brother-in- 
law,  Licinius  iEmiHanus,  before  the  Proconful 
of  Africa.  Now  his  accufer,  if  I  am  not  much 
miftaken,  was  a  Christian,  tho'  this  interefting 
circumftance  hath  cfcaped  his  commentators. 
However  let  us  hear  the  charafter  Apuleius  him- 
felf  gives  of  his  party.  —  "  Atqui  ego  fcio  non- 
nullos,  et  cum  primis  Mmilianum  iftum,  facetiae 
(ibi  habere  res  divinas  deridere.  ^Nam,  ut  au 'ji 
dio,  percenfentibus  iis  qui  iftum  novere,  ««/-'> 
/;  deo  ad  hoc  avi  fupplicavit  -,  nullum  templum  fre-' 
quentavit.     Si   fanum  aliquod  prastereat,    nefa-3 

HABET   ADORANDI  GRATIA  MANUM  LABRIS   AD- 

MovERE.  Ifte  vero  nee  diis  rurationis,  qui,  eum 
pofcunt  ac  veftiunt,  fegetis  ullas  aut  vitis  a  jt  gre-  - 
gis  primitias  impartit;  nullum  in  villa  ejus  delu- 
brum  fitum,  nee  locus  aut  lucus  confecratus.  At 
quid  ego  de  luco  aut  delubro  ioquor  ?  Negant 
vidijfe  fe,  qui  fuere  unum  faltem  in  finibus  ejus  aut 
lapidem  un£lum^  aut  ramum  ccronatum.  Igirur  ag- 
nomenta  ei  duo  indita :  Charon^  ob  oris  et  animi 
diritatem:  fed  alterum,  quod  libentius  audit, 
ob  deorum  contemptum,  Mezentius^.  So,  where 
he  apoftrophifes  .  him  in  another  place,  he  fays, 
agreeably  to  this  charader  of  him  —  si  quid 
CREDis,  iEmiliane !  ^  and  again,  after  explaining 
a  fpiritual  dodrine  of  Plato,  he  adds  with  a  fnear— 

"  jpoi.  p.  6£,  5.       f  r.  26. 

attamen 


302  ^e  Divine  htgatioii      Book  IL 

attamen  fi  audire  verum  velis,  ^miliane^!  But 
the  repetition  of  this  charad:eriftic  word  with  an 
ironical  emphafis  is  his  conftant  formula  when  he 
addreffes  iEmilianus,  longe  a  vero  aberrafife  necefle 
habeat  confiteri  ^  —  Immo  fi  verum  velis  '■  — . 
plane  quidem  fi  verumv^Xi^  ^.  i.  Now,  irreligion 
and  atheifm,  we  know,  was  the  name  Chriftianity 
at  that  time  went  by,  for  having  dared  to  renounce 
the  whole  family  of  the  gentile  Gods  in  a  lump, 
^milianus  we  fee  had  made  fuch  clear  work,  that 
there  was  not  fo  much  as  an  anointed  ftone,  or 
a  tree  adorned  with  confecrated  garlands,  to  be 
found  throughout  his  whole  Farm.  That  the 
Atheifm  of  iEmilianus  was  of  this  fort,  and 
no  courtly  ov  philofophic  impiety,  appears  from  his 
Charafter  and  Station.  He  was  neither  a  fine 
'i'^^nt^iernan  noi  a  profound  Inquirer  into  nature  -, 
^^uraclers  indeed  which  arc  fometimes  found  to 
1^  above  Religion;  but  a  mere  Ruftic,  in  his 
liFe  and  manners.  Now  plain  unpolifhed  men 
in  lii.ch  a  ftation  are  never  without  fome  religion 
or  other:  when  we  find  JEmilianus,  therefore,  not 
of  the  "fiahlijhed^  we  mull  needs  conclude  him 
to  be  a  ^^^^ry  and  a  Christian.  2.  His  ne- 
gledl  of  his  country  Gods  was  not  a  mere  nega- 
tive affront ;  of  forgetfulnefs.  He  gloried  in  be- 
ing their  defpifer  *,  and  took  kindly  to  the  name  of 
Mezentius,  as  a  title  of  honour  —  alterum^ 
quod  lihentius  audita  ch  deorum  contemptum,  Me- 
zenthiS)  which  I  would  confider  as  a  further  mark 
of  a  Chrijiian  convi5i.  3.  He  even  held  it  an  abo- 
mination fo  much  as  to  put  his  hand  to  his  lips^ 
(according  to  the  mode  of  adoration  in  thofe  times) 
when  he  pafTed  by  an  Heathen  Temple-,  nefas  habet 
adorandi  gratia  manum  labris  admovere,  the  moft 

sP.  14.       >•  P.  77.        'P.  98.       ^?,  108. 

cha- 


Sedt.  4-     (?/ 'Moses   demonjlrated.  303 

charafteriftic  mark  of  a  primithe  Confejfor,  by 
which  he  could  never  be  miftaken  j  nor,  one 
would  think,  fo  long  overlooked. 

The  averfion,  therefore,  which  Apuleius  had 
contrafted  to  his  Chriftian  accufer,  (and  we  fee, 
by  his  apology,  it  was  in  no  ordinary  degree) 
would  without  doubt  increafe  his  prejudice  to  that 
religion.  I  am  perfuaded  he  gave  the  Charader 
of  the  Baker's  wife,  in  \\\s  golden  Afs^  for  no  other 
reafon  than  to  outrage  our  holy  faith.  He  draws 
her  ftained  with  all  the  vices  that  could  fall 
to  the  (hare  of  a  Woman  j  and  then,  to  finifh  all, 
he  makes  her  a  Chriftian. — "  Nee  eniiti  vel  unum 
"  vitiumnequiflimre  illi  feminre  deerat:  fed  omnia 
"  prorfus,  ut  in  quandam  coenofam  latrinam,  in 
*'  ejus  animam  flagitia  confluxerant,  f:«va,  viriofa, 
"  ebriofa,  pervicax,  in  rapinis  turpi  bus  avara,  in 
*'  fumptibws  fcedis  profufa  :  inimica  fidei,  hoftis  pu- 
"  dicitice.     "Tunc  fpretis  aique  calcatis  dtvhiis  numini- 

''  bus,  IN  VICEM  CERT.^,  RELIGIONIS  MENTITA 
*'  SACRILEGA  P  R  i^SUMPTIOtSTE  DEI,  QUEM  PR^- 
*'   DICARET    UNICUM,    CONFICTI^  OBSE  RVAT  lONI- 

"  BUS  VACUis,  fallens  omnes  homines,  tr'c/" 

Let  us  fee  now  how  this  would  influence  his 
v.ritings.  There  was  nothing  the  Philosophers 
of  that  time  had  more  at  heart,  efpccially  the  Pia- 
tcnijls  and  Pythagoreans,  than  die  fupport  of  fink- 

'  Met.  1.  ix.  p.  I  ^'6.  Pric.  Ed.  So  acain  in  the  fourth 
book,  defcribing  cenain  magnilic  (hews  exhibited  to  the  people 
by  One  Demochares ;  when  he  comes  to  fpeak  of  the  crimiudls 
thrown  to  vvild-beaas,  he  expreiTis  himfelf  In  this  manner:  — 
Alibi  noxii,  perdita  fEcuRiTAXE,  fuis  epulis  beftiarani 
faginas  inllruentes.  p.  72.  The  Oxf.  MS.  for  'uurjtutt  read 
Jc'veritate  :  on  which  Pricf  obferves,  eg.  nee  hoc  nee  i'h  d  intel' 
ieclutn  haheo.  Apuleius  by  wcv//  apparently  meant  the  '//^^/'it^i:/ 
Cfirifiians  •,7,.n<i perdja  fccuriti'te,  which  is  the  true  reauing.  cen- 
fures  their  rcafonable  hope  of  a  happy  immorta  i:y,  or  their  laiie 
confidence  that  the  beaiis  would  not  hurt  them. 

Vol.  I.  X  ing 


304         The  Divine  Legation  Book  I  J. 

ing  Paganifm.  This  fervice,  as  hath  been  occafi- 
onally  remarked,  they  performed  in  various  ways 
and  manners  :  fome  by  allegGrizing  their  theology  •, 
Ibme  by  Jpmtualizing  their  Philojofhy  -,  and  fome, 
as  Jamblicus  and  Philoilratus,  by  writing  the  lives 
of  their  Heroes^  to  oppole  to  that  of  Chriit ;  others 
again,  as  Porphyry,  with  this  view,  collected  their 
oracles;  or  as  Melanthius,  Menaneier,  Hicefius,  & 
Sotades  wrote  defcriptive  encomiums  on  their  iViys- 
TERiEs.  Which  laft,  as  we  ilial!  now  lliew,  was  the 
province  undertaken  by  Apulcius ;  his  Metamor- 
phofis  being  nothing  elfe  but  one  continued  recom- 
mendation of  them. 

But  to  give  what  we  have  to  fay  it's  proper 
force  •,  let  us  i.  enquire  into  the  motives  our 
author  might  have  for  entering  at  all  into  the  de- 
fence of  Paganifm  :  2.  His  realons  for  chufmg  this 
topic  of  defence,  the  recommendation  c/  the  my- 
Jleries. 

1 .  As  to  his  defence  of  paganifm  in  general,  we 
may  obferve,  i.  That  works  of  this  kind  were 
very  much  in  fiifhion,  efpecially  amongft  the  phi- 
lofophers  of  our  author's  feci.  2.  He  was,  as  we 
have  leen,  mod:  fuperilitiouQy  devoted  to  pagan 
worfhip :  and,  3.  He  bore  a  perfonal  fpitc  and 
prejudice  to  tb.e  Chriftian  proieffion. 

2 .  As  to  his  making  the  defence  of  the  Myjieries 
his  choice,  ftill  ftronger  reafons  may  be  aligned. 
I.  Thefe  were  the  rites  to  which  he  was  fo  peculiar- 
ly devoted,  that  he  had  contrived  to  be  initiated 
into  all  the  myjieries  of  note,  in  the  Roman  world  ; 
and  in  feveral  of  them  had  born  the  moft  diftin- 
guifhed  offices.  2.  The  Myjieries  being  at  this 
rime  become  extremely  corrupt,  and  confequent- 

'  ly,  -in  difcredit,  needed  an  able  and  zealous  apolo- 
gift :  both  of  which  qualities  met  eminently  in  Apu- 
ieius.     The   corruptions  were  of  two  kinds.  De- 
baucheries 


Se(5t.  4-       of  Mos'E^  demonjirated.  305 

BAucHERiES  and  Magic.  Their  Debaucheries  we 
have  talccn  notice  of,  above  :  their  Magic  will  be  con- 
fidered  hereafter.  But,  3.  Our  author's  clofe  at- 
tachment to  myjUrious  rites  was,  without  queflion, 
the  very  thing  that  occafioned  all  thofe  fufpicions 
and  reports,  which  ended  in  an  accufation  of 
Magic  :  And,  confidering  what  hath  been  llud  of  the 
corrupt  itate  of  the  Myjieries^  the  reader  will  not 
wonder  at  it. 

Such  then  being  the  general  charafler  of  the  My- 
Jleries^  and  of  this  their  great  Devotee,  nothing  was 
more  natural  than  his  proje(5ting  their  defence  •,  which 
at  the  fame  time,"  that  it  concurred  to  the  fupport 
of  paganifm  in  general,  would  vindicate  his  own 
credit,  together  with  an  inftitution  of  which  he  was 
fo  immoderately  fond.  And  the  following  confi- 
derations  are  fuflicient  to  Ihew,  that  the  Metamor- 
phofis  was  written  after  his  Apo'cgy:  for,  i.  His 
accufers  never  once  mention  the  fable  of  the  ^^/^^« 
afs  to  fupport  their  charge  of  Magic,  though  they 
were  in  great  want  of  proofs,  and  this  lay  fo  ready 
for  their  purpofe  '".  2.  He  pofitively  afTerts  before 
the  tribunal  of  Maximus  Claudius  that  he  had  m'ver 
given  the  leaji  occafion  to  fufped  him  of  Magic : 
"  Nufquam  paffus  fum  vel  exigiuwi  fufpicionem  ma- 
*'  gi^e  confiftere  ^" 

Now  Antiquity  confidered  initiation  into 
THE  Mysteries  as  ^  deHi-ery  from  a  living  death 
of  vice^  brutality^  and  mifery  ■,  and  the  beginning  of 
a  new  life  of  virtue ^  reafon,  and  happinefs  °.     This 

"■'  We  are  not  to  fuppofe  that  he  alludes  to  the  Metamor- 
phofis  in  the  following  words  of  the  Apology,  — Aggredior 
cnim  jam  ad  ipfum  crimen  MagtiS,  quod  ingenti  tumulcu,  ad 
invidiam  mei,  acccnfura,  frufirata  expedatione  omnium,  per 
vefcio  quas  anileisfahuhis  At'^idgTZvit  p.  29 — ;o.  T)\t  idle  tales 
here  hinted  at,  are  fuch  as  he  afterwards  expofesin  the  courfe  of 
his  defence. 

"  P,  100.  ®  See  what  hath  been  faid  above. 

X  2  therefore 


^o6  1'he  Divine  Legatio?t       Book  II, 

therefore,  was  the  very  circumftance  which  our 
author  chole  for  the  iubjecl  of  his  recommenda- 
tion. 

And  as  in  the  Myjleries,  their  moral  and  divine 
truths  were  reprefentcd  in  /hews  and  allegories, 
fo,  in  order  to  comply  with  this  method  of  inftru- 
dlion,  and  in  imitation  of  the  ancient  mafters  of 
"wifdom  P ,  who  borrowed  ihtiv  mapjier  of  teaching 
from  thence,  he  hath  artfully  infinuated  his  do- 
6lrine  in  an  agreeable  t'able  ;  and  the  fitteft  one 
could  conceive  for  his  purpofe,  as  will  be  feen  when 
we  come  to  examine  it. 

The  foundation  of  this  allegory  was  a  Mlleftan 
fable,  a  fpecies  of  polite  trifling  then  much  in  vogue, 
and  not  very  unlike  the  modern  Arabian  tales. 
To  allure  his  readers,  therefore,  with  the  promife 
of  a  fafhionable  work,  he  introduces  his  Metamor- 
phofis  in  this  manner  :  At  ego  tibi  fermone  ijio  Mi- 
lefio  "carias  fabidas  conferam,  aurefque  tuas  bene-volas 
lep'ido  fiifurro  permulceajn  \  plainly  intimating  that 
there  was  fomething  of  more  confcquence  at  bot- 
tom. But  they  took  him  at  his  word  ;  and,  from 
that  day  to  this,  never  troubled  their  heads  about, 
a  further  meaning.  The  outfide  engaged  all  their 
attention,  and  fufficiently  delighted  them ;  as  we 
may  gather  from  the  early  title  it  bore  of  Asi- 
Nus  Aureus'^:  unlefs   we  will   rather .  fuppofe  it 

r  Strabo  acquaints  us  with  the  inducements  which  the  anci- 
ents had  to  praflice  this  method  of  Inftruftion. — Oiav  h\  tz^oo^ 

>d  TO  ^a.vi/.ccrlv  >Cj  TO  T£paT£jc£?,  ETTJTWifi  Tflf  '/io&njv,  %7si^  irt  TB  fJUClV- 
GxuHV  ^i^Tfov.  KaTa^^a?  l^iy  «»  oiva.yx.n  toistok  ^';^^as•^  %;i;cr6ai. 
WPoVovcrni;  Ti  T?;?  r]?>ixtac  iw»  ir,v  rait  'Ivruv  fi.cc^r,cr.iv  uymv,  v^yi  t»!S  ota- 
I'olw;  i^'l^'fAi!!*]?,  xj  ^r,xht  «^.-oft£>>3?  ifiT^cin^Lt .  K«»  i(Ji<yT'-9?  o\  TTot^  >^ 
d'iTixloiV'vr.c  TpoVcv  TiVa.'Tra.T^iTin    (piXouv^iire  uiirainuc.       Geog.  1.  i. 

H  From  the  beginning  of  one  of  Pliny's  epiftles,  I  fuipecl  that 
AuREiE  was  the  common  title  given  to  the  Milefian,  and  fuch 
like  tales  as  Strolers  ufed  to  tell  for  a  piece  of  money  to  the 
rabble  in  a  circle.  Pliny's  words  are  thefe — afTem  para,  et 
accipe  AUREAM  fabulam.  1.  ii.  Ep.  20. 

to 


SeiSt.  4'      o/' Moses  demonftrated.  307 

to  have  been  beftowed  by  the  few  intelhgent  readers 
in  the  fecret-,  for,  in  fpite  of  the  author,  a  fecret 
it  was,  and  fo  all  along  continued. 

Upon  one  of  thefe  popular  fables,  he  chofe  to 
ingraft  his  inftrudion  •,  taking  a  celebrated  tale  from 
the  colledtions  of  one  Lucius  of  Patras ;  who  re- 
lates his  transTormation  into  an  Afs,  and  his  adven- 
tures under  that  fhape.  Lucian  has  epitomifed  this 
ftory,  as  Apuleius  feems  to  have  paraphrafed  it: 
and  the  fubjccfl  being  a  Metamorphosis,  it  admi- 
rably fitted  hispurpofe-,  as  the  Metemtsychosis 
to  which  that  fuperilition  belongs  was  one  of  the 
fundamental  dodrines  of  the  Myftcries  \ 

The  fable  opens  with  the  reprefentation  of  a 
young  man,  perfonated  by  himfelt,  fenfiDleot  the 
advantages  of  virtue  zr^d  piety ^  but  immoderately 
fond  oifleafure^  and  as  curious  of  Magic  K  And 
his  adventure  with  Byrrhena  and  Pamphile  feems  to 

>■  But  from  Photius's  account  of  Lucius  Patrenfis  one  would 
be  inclined  to  rank  him  amonglt  thofe  who  compofed  books  of 
Mctanurphofis  [See  B.  iii.  Sed.  3]  according  to  the  popular 
theology,  rather  thaii,a  writer  of  Alilefian  fables.  He  entitles 
Lucius's  work  f-tsT^wop^Jcjei;-  Xoy-.i  oidyo^n.  And  after  having 
faid  that  Lucian  borrowed  his  Jfs  from  thence,  to  ridicule  pagan 
religion,  he  goes  on,  0  at  A««to?  e^Tra^a.^iov  t=,  y^  inTo^'i  vo[Mtu!«  tx<; 

ypcefyi  TTccei^ioy  Tccvra,  >^  (jvvi'(pcnviv.  This  will  account  for  the 
oddnefb  of  Apuleius's  expreffions,  with  which  he  introduces  his 
Fah/e — Et  figuras  fortunafque  hominum  in  alias  imagines  con- 
verfas  et  in  fe  rudum  mutuo  nexu  refedlas,  ut  miieris,  exor- 
dior, — words  by  no  means  fuiting  with  the  fmgle  transformation, 
and  ftory  of  the  goLhu  rj:,  but  very  exprefiive  of  the  nature  of 
fuch  a  work  as  that  of  Lucius  Pntreniis,  according  to  thejidea 
which  Photius  gives  us  of  it.  From  when  I  conclude  that  Apu- 
leius might  tranllate  thcfe  words  from  his  original  author. 

s  Apuleius  takes  care  to  keep  up  this  part  of  his  cha- 
radter  as  he  goes  along,  familiarii  curiositatis  aihnotiitui, 
1.  iii. /«//;i/.'flr/  cuRioslTATE  attonitus,  1.  ix.  And  Curio/us 
and  Magus  were  ufed  by  the  Ancients  as  Synonymous.  £0  Apu- 

X  3  be 


308  The  Divine  Legation        Book  II. 

be  borrowed  from  Prodicus's  fable  of  the  con- 
teft  between  Virtue  and  Pleafure  for  the  young 
Hercules.  Byrrhena  meets  our  adventurer,  pre- 
tends to  be  his  relation  %  and  tells  him  that  flie 
brought  him  up  from  his  infancy:  by  which  is  in- 
timated that  virtue  was  mod  natural  to  him.  She 
leads  him  home  to  her  houfe,  which  is  dcfcribed 
as  a  magnificent  palace  :  one  of  its  principal  orna- 
inents  is  the  hiJtory  of  Diana" -,  where  thepunifh- 
ment  of  Adlason  is  not  forgot  ^'',  as  a  feafonable 
leflbn  againft  vicious  ciiriofity.  And  to  keep  him 
to  herfelf  fhe  promifes  to  make  him  heir  of  all  her 
fortunes.  Then  taking  him  apart,  flie  warns  him  to 
beware  of  the  mifchievous  pradices  of  his  hoftefs 
Pamphile.  "  Per  hanc,  inquit,  Deam  (Dianam) 
"  6  Luci  cariiTime,  ut  anxie  tibi  metuo,  et,  ut- 
*'  pote  pignori  meo,  longe  provifum  cupio,  cave 
*'  tibi,  fed  cave  fortiter,  a  malis  artibus,  et  faci- 
"  norofis  illecebris  Pamphiles  illius, — Maga  primi 
*'  nominic,  et  omnis  carminis  fepulcralis  magiftra 
*'  creditur :  quse  furculis  et  lapillis,  et  id  genus 
*'  frivolis  inhalatis,  omnem  iftam  lucem  mundi  fi- 
*'  derails  imis  Tartari,  et  in  vetuftum  chaos  fub- 
"  mergere  novit.  Nam  cum  quemquam  con- 
*'  fpexerit  fpcciofe  forms  juvcnem,  venuftate  ejus 
"  fumitur :  et  illico  etc. 

leius  himfelf. — At  ego  curiosus  alioquln,  ut  primum  art  is 
magicj^  fcmper  optaium  ?:oif2cn  audivi,  p.  24.  Hence  it  is 
that  he  is  reprefented  as  having  been  initiated  in  all  the  conttpt 
Myjleries,  where  Magic  was  profefTcdly  prafiictd.  Fotis  en- 
joining him  iilence,  fays,  facris  plurihus  iiiitiatus,  profedo 
nofti  fanflam  filentii  fidem.  p.  53. 

'  Ego  te,  o  Luci,  meis  iftis  manlbus  educavi :  quidni?  pa- 
rentis tuajnon  modo  fanguinis,  verum  alimoniarum  etiam  focia 
fui.  p   23. 

"  Ecce  lapis  Parius  in  Dianam  faflus  tenet  libratam  totius 
loci  medietatem,  fignum  perfefce  luculentum, — introeuntibus 
obvium,  et  majellate  numinis  venerabile,  etc.  p.  22. 

"^  Inter  medias  frondes  lapidis  Adxonis  fimulaehrum,  curiofo 
obtutumdor/um  projedus,  etc,  p.   23. 

But 


Sed.  4.     ^  Moses    demondrated.  309 

But  Lucius  makes  a  choice  very  different  from 
that  o\  Hercules  \  I  ie  gives  a  loole  to  his  vicious 
appetite  for  Plea  jure  and  Magic:  and  the  crimes 
and  tolHes  into  .which  they  lead  him  foon  ends  in 
his  ttcinstormation  to  a  Brute. 

This  contrivance  of  the  introduflory  part  is 
artful;  and  finely  infinuates  the  great  moral  of  the 

piece,    THAT    BRUTALITY   ATTENDS  VICE   AS   It's 

1'unishment:  and  punilhment  by  acftual  transfor- 
mation was  keeping  up  to  the  popular  opinion  y. 
His  making  a  paiilon  for  Magic  contribute  to  this 
dreadful  change  is  no  lefs  ingenious,  as  it  cleared 
both  himfdf  diU)  the  Myjleries  Irom  that  imputation  ; 
for  it  appeared  that  Magic  v/as  fo  far  from  being  in- 
nocent, that  in  his  opinion,  it  was  attended  with  the 
fevereft  punifhment;  fo  far  from  being  encouraged 
by  the  My§lerie<^  that  they  only  could  relieve  men 
from  the  diftreljcs  which  this  vicious  curiofity 
brought  upon  it's  votaries  \  as  is  fhevvn  by  the 
cataitrophe  of  the  piece. 

St.  Auflin  permitted  himfelf  to  doubt  whether 
Apuleius's  account  of  his  change  mto  an  afs  was 
not  a  true  relation.  —  Sicut  A-puleiiis^  in  lihris  qiios 
/Ifini  aiirci  t'ltulo  infcripfit^  fihi  ipfi  accidijfe^  ut  ac- 
ccptoveneno^  humano  ammopermanente^  afims  fieret^ 
AUT  mxyic AV IT  aut  finxit'"-.  1  fhaU  Hiy  nothing 
to  this  extravagant  doubt,  but  only  obferve,  that  it 
appears  from  hence,  that  St.  Auftin  efteemed 
Apuleius   a   profligate   in   his   manners,  and  ad- 

"  He  had  promifed  to  obferve  Byrrhena's  monitions,  and  to 
return  to  her  again  :  but  a  circumftance  of  immoderate  mirth 
intervening  he  found  in  himfelf  a  more  than  ordinary  averfion 
to  keep  his  word  Ad  hsc  ego  formidans  et  procul  perhor- 
rcicens  etiam  ipfam  domum  ejus,  etc,  p.  51.  This  is  a  fine  cir- 
cumftance, nothing  being  fo  great  an  enemy  to  modefty  and 
cliallity  (figured  iii»the  perfon  of  Byrrhena)  as  immoderate 
mirth. 

y  Sec  B.  iii.  Sed.  3.  =  C/o-.  Dei,  1.  xviii.  c.  1 8. 

X  4  dided 


310  7he  Divine  Legation       Book  II. 

dialed  to  the  fuperftitions  of  Magic.  And  yet  it 
is  by  no  means  credible,  that  he  who  took  fo  much 
pains,  in  a  very  ferious  and  pubHc  way  %  to 
tree  himielf  from  thole  imputations  fhould  after- 
wards wantonly  undo  all  he  had  To  fuccefsfully 
performed  in  fupport  of  a  doubtful  reputation  ;  by 
an  unnecefiary  narrative  of  his  ov/n  early  debauche- 
ries :  but  it  may  be.faid,  that  all  this  happened  in 
his  youth ;  and  that  his  fubfequent  initiations  had 
purified  his  manners  :  But  neither  will  his  Apolo- 
gy admit  of  this  fuppofition;  for  there  he  expredy 
infills  on  the  virtue  of  his  youth.  "  De  eioquen- 
*'  tia  vero,  fi  qua  mihi  fuiflet,  neque  mirum,  neque 
*'  invidiofurn  deberet  videri,  fi  ab  ineunte  avo  unis 
"  fbudiis  lirterarum  ex  fumrnis  viribus  deditus,  oni- 
"  nibus  aliis  fpretis  voluptatibus,  ad  hoc  avi^  haud 
*'  fciam  annefuper  omneis  homines  impenfo  labore, 
*f  diuque  noduque,  cum  defpeclu  et  difpendio 
*-^  bonre  valetudinis,  earn  qusfiii'em — Quis  enim  me 
"  lioc  quidem  padto  elcquentior  vivat.''  quippequi 
*'  nihil  iinq^uay/i  cogitavi  quod  eloqui  non  auderem. 
*■'  Eundem  me  aiotacundifiimum  ;  nam  omne  pec- 
"  catnm  femper  netas  habui.  Eundem  difertiffi- 
*'  mum;  quod  nullum  njeum  factum  v. I  di<5tum 
*'  exter,  de  quo  dilTer  re  pubiice  non  pofTim  ^."  What 
have  we  then  to  conclude  but  that  the  reprefenta- 
tion  of  himfeli  in  x.\\\s  fable,  under  a  debauched  cha- 
racter, is  entirely  feigned  .^  Yet  ftill  it  would  be 
as  abfurd  to  imagine  that  a  grave  and  moral  phiio- 
fophcr  fhould  chufe  to  exhibit  himfclf  to  the  public 
\x\  the  ouious,  and  falfe  light  of  a  magician  and  de- 
bauchee j  and  take  a  pjeafure  in  dwelling  upon  the 
horrors  of  fo  deieftable  a  character,  for  no  other 
purpole  than  to  amui'e  and  entertain  a  fet  of  diflb- 
Ivjte  readers.     We  muft  needs  therefore  go  a  ftep 

a  Jlis  Apologv,  ^  P.  6. 

further, 


Secfl.  4.      0/  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrated.  3  1 1 

further,  and  conclude  that  he  afTumed  it  only  for 
the  fake  of  the  GENERAL  MORAL,  and  the  better 
to  carry  on  his  allegory  •,  which  was,  to  recom- 
mend the  Mysteries  as  the  certain  cure  for  all 
the  diforders  of  the  will. 

This  being  his  end,  he  was  but  too  much  en- 
couraged by  the  example  ot  the  moft  moral  of  the 
ancient  fatirifts,  to  particularize  the  various  mala- 
dies to  which  he  was  applying  a  remedy.  Let  this, 
and  his  only  copying  what  he  found  in  his  original 
author,  (land  for  fome  kind  of  excufe  in  a  wretched 
Pagan,  as  it  is  the  beft  we  have,  for  all  the  ob- 
fcenities  with  which  his  table  abounds. 

But  to  proceed  with  his  plan.  Having  now  fbcvvn 
himfelf  thoroughly  brutalized  by  his  crimes  j  he 
goes  on  to  reprefent  at  large  the  miferies  of  that 
condition,  in  a  long  detail  of  his  mifadventures; 
in  the  courfe  of  which  he  fell,  by  turns,  under  the 
dominion  of  every  vicious  paliion  ;  though  the  in- 
cidents are  chiefly  confined  to  the  m.ifchiefs  of 
unlawful  love  :  And  this,  with  much  judgment, 
as  one  of  the  principal  ends  of  the  MySferies  was  to 
curb  and  fubdue  this  inordinance,  which  brings  more 
general  and  lafting  mifery  upon  mankind  than  all 
the  other.  And  as  it  was  the  great  moral  of  his  piece 
to  fliew  that  pure  religion  (fuch  as  aplatonic  philofo- 
pher  eftecmed  pure)  was  the  only  remedy  for  human 
corruption-,  fo,  to  prevent  theabufeormiftake  of  this 
capital  principle,  he  takes  care  to  inform  us,  that 
an  attachment  to  fuperflitious  and  corrupt  religion  does 
but  -plunge  the  wretched  vitlim  into  Jlill  greater  mife- 
ries. This  he  finely  illuftrates,  in  the  hiftory  of  his 
adventures  with  the  begging  Priests  of  Cybele; 
whofe  enormities  are  related  in  the  eighth  and  ninth 
books;  and  whofe  corrupt  Mysteries  are  in- 
tended as  a  cootraft   to   the  ruRE   rites  ofIsis: 

With 


312        '     The  Divine  Legation      Book  II. 

With  which,  in  a  very  fludied  defcription  and  en- 
comium he  concludes  the  Fable. 

In  the  mean  time,  matters  growing  from 
bad  to  worfe,  and  Lucius  plunged  deeper  and 
deeper  in  the  fink  ot  vice,  his  affairs  come  to  a 
crifis.  For  this  is  one  great  beauty  in  the  conduct 
of  the  fable,  that  every  change  of  ftation,  while  he 
remains  a  brute,  makes  his  condition  ftill  n"iore 
wretched  and  deplorable.  And  being  now  (in  the 
7tinth  book)  about  to  perpetrate  one  of  the  moll 
fhocking  enormities;  Nature,  though  fo  deeply 
brutalized,  revolts-,  he  abhors  the  idea  of  his 
projecled  crime;  he  evades  his  keepers;  he  flies 
to  the  fea-fhore ;  and,  in  this  folitudc,  begins  to 
relied  more  ferioufly  on  his  i oft  condition.  This 
is  finely  imagined;  for  we  often  fee  men,  even 
after  a  whole  life  of  horrors,  come  fuddenly  tothem- 
felves  on  the  hideous  afped  of  fome  moniter-vice 
too  frightful  even  for  an  hardened  confcience 
to  endure.  Nor  is  it  with  lefs  judgment  that 
the  author  makes  thefe  beginnings  ot  reformation 
confirmed  by  folitude;  when  che  unhappy  viclim 
of  pleafurc  hath  broken  loofe  from  the  companions 
and  partakers  of  his  follies. 

And  now,  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  of  his 
hopelefs  Itate  obliges  him  to  fly  to  heaven  for  re- 
lief. The  MOON  is  in  full  fplendour  ;  and  the  aw- 
ful filence  of  the  night  infpires  him  with  fen- 
timents  of  religion.-^"  Video  przemicantis  Lunas 
"  candore  nimio  completum  orbem, — nadusque 
*'  opac£e  noftis  filentiofa  fecreta,  certus  etiam  fum- 
"  matem  Deam  prjEcipua  majeftate  pollere,  resque 
"  pforfus  humanas  iphus  rtgiprovidentia^  etc  ".  He 
then  purifies  himfelf  in  the  manner  prefcribed  by 
Pythagoras'' ;  the  philofopher  molt  addided  to  ini- 

'  P.  238. 

^  — meque  protinus,  purificandi  fludio,  marino  lavacro  trado  : 
A  Stations 


Sedl.  4.      0/"  M  o  s  E  s  demonjlrated.  3 1 3 

tiations  of  all  the  early  fages  •,  as  Apuleius,  of  all 
the  later  -,  and  fo  makes  his  prayer  to  the  Moon  or 
Isis  i  invoking  her  by  her  feveral  names  of  the  Eleu- 
finian  Ceres ^  the  cclejiial  Venus^  Diana  and  Proferpine : 
when  betaking  himfelf  to  repofe,  fhe  appears  to  him 
in  a  dream  ^,  under  that  shining  image  fo  much 
ipoken  of  by  the  Myfiics,  as  reprefcnting  the  di- 
vine nature  in  general  *".  **  Necdum  fatis  connive- 
"  ram  :  et  ecce  pelago  medio,  venerandos  Diis 
'*  etiam  vultus  attollens,  emergit  divina  fades,  ac 
"  dehinc  paulatim  toto  corpore  per  lucidum  si- 
"  MuLACRuM,  excuflb  pelago,  ante  me  conftitiffe 
"  vifum  e(l.  Ejus  mirandam  fpeciem  ad  vos  etiani 
"  referre  connitar — Corona  multiformis,  variis  flo- 
"  ribus  fublimem  diftinxerat  verticem  :  cujus  me- 
*'  dia  quidem  fuper  fronte  plana  rotunditas,  candi- 
"  dum  lumen  emicabat.  Dextra  IfEvaque  fulcis 
"  infurgentium  viperarum  cohibita,  fptcis  etiam  Ce- 
"  realibus  defuper  porre^tis. — Et  qujE  longelonge- 
"  que  etiam  meum  confutabat  obtutum,  palla  ni- 
*'  gerrima,  fplendefcens  atro  nitore-,  quae  circum 
"  circa  remeans, — per  intextam  extremitatem,  et 
"  in  ipfa  oras  planitie,  Jlella  difperlk;  corufca- 
"  bant :  earumque  media  femeftris  Luna  flammeos 
. "  fpirabat  ignes. — Dextera   quidem  ferebat  areum 

feptiesque  fubmerfo  fludibus  capite,  quod  eura  numerum  prae- 
cipue  religioni  aptiirimum  divinus  ille  Pythagoras  prodidit — 
p.  238. 

■^  Artemidorus  fays,  that  for  a  man  to  dream  that  Ceres, 
Proferpine,  or  Bacchus  appears  to  him,  betokens  fome  extraordi- 
nary good  fortune  to  happen  to  him.     b.r.yJoT'ng  '•'o  '^o?*  ^  ^  "hiyn- 

y.ivo^" iCLifx^  TUK  fji,ei^vY)ij,ivaii:  rccT^  Bia.Tc  dyot'^oi  ti  kJ  a  To  rv)(pv  Icto/^e- 

tiov  anijLxUova-t.  1.  iv.  c  44...  This  popular  divination  by  dreams 
was  apparently  founded  on  the  common  opinion  of  the  advantages 
attending  initiation  into  the  Myfteries.  i'heancient  Onirocritics 
were  not  founded  on  the  arbitrary  fancies  of  the  impoftors  who 
profeffcd  that  art,  but  on  the  cuftoms  and  fuperftitions  of  the 
times,  and  with  a  principal  reference  to  the  Egyptian  Hiero- 
glyphics and  iVIysTERiEs.  See  B.  iv.  Seft.  4. 
'  See  above  p,  272.  note  ['^.) 

"  crept' 


3  f4  ^^^^  Divine  Legation        Book  II. 

"•  crepitaculum:  cujus  per  anguflam  laminam  in  mo- 
*'  dum  balthei  recurvatam,  trajedae  medi^  paucae 
"  virgulas,  crifpante  brachio  tergeminos  jaclus,  red- 
"  debant,  argucum  fonitum  s."  Thefe  feveral  lym- 
bolic  attributes,  the  lucid  rounds  the  fnakes^  the 
ears  of  corn^  and  the  Jijirum,  reprefent  the  tutelar 
Deities  ot  the  Hecataan^  Bacchic^  Elufinian  and  Ifiac 
MysTERits,  Tliat  is,  the  myftic  rites  in  gene- 
ral; for  whofe  fake  the  allegory  was  invented.  As 
the  black  Palla  in  wnich  Ihe  is  wrapped,  embroi- 
dered v.'itli  a  filver-moon,  and  flars,  denotes  the 
TIME.,  in  which  the  Myfteries  were  celebrated, 
namely  ihedead  of  night  -,  which  was  fo  conftant 
and  infeparable  a  circumftance,  that  the  author 
calls  iyiitiotion^  noctis  societas. 

In  her  fpeech  to  Lucius  fhe  gives  this  extraordi- 
naiy  account  of  herfelf,  "  En  allum,  tuis  comniota 
"  Luci  precibus,  rerum  natura  parews,  ele- 
*'  metjtorurn  omnium  Domina,  f^culorum  proge- 
"  niesinitialis,  Summanuminum,  Regina  m^.iium, 
"  Prima  coelitum,  Deorum  Dearumque  facies  uni- 
"  formis :  quae  cceli  luminofa  culmina,  maris  fa- 
"  lubria  flamina,  inferorum  deplorata  fiientia  nu- 
"  tibus  meis  difpenfo.  Cujus  numen  unicum, 
*MTiultiformi  fpecie,  rituvario,  nomine  multijugo 
*'  totus  veneratur  orbis.^— prifcaque  do6lrina  pol- 
*'lentes  iEcYPTir,  cerimoniis  me  prorfus  pro- 
*'  PRiis  percolentes,  appellant  vero  nomine  regi- 
*' nam  Isidem^."  This  was  exadlly  adapted  to 
the  defign  of  the  Myjieries ;  and  preparatory  to  the 
communication  of  the  AIIOPPHTA.  It  had  likewife 
this  further  ufe,  to  patch  up  and  recommend  the 
PAGAN  Religions-,  by  flie  wing  that  their  Ptf/y//6^//^? 
qonfifted  in  nothing  elfe  than  in  giving  the  su- 
preme God  various  names,  merely  expreffive  of 

s  F.  239 — 40,  ''_^P.  Z41. 

his 


Se(S.  4.     of  Moses  demonjirated.  3  1 5 

his  various  attributes.  This  was  the  failiion- 
able  colouring,  which,  after  the  appearance  of 
Chriftianity,  the  advocates  of  paganifm  employed 
to  blanch  their  Idolatry.  I  will  only  obferve 
further  that  the  words,  Mgypii  cerimoniis  mepror- 
fus  propriis  percolentes^  infinuate,  what  was  true, 
that  all  Myfterious  worfhip  came  firft  from  Mgypt ; 
this  people  having  penetrated  furtheil  into  the  nature 
of  the  Gods  :  As  the  calling  her,  who  reprefents 
the  Myfteries  in  general,  reriim  natura  parens^  fhews 
plainly  what  were  the  d^o^^moi  oi  them  all. 

Parent,  nature  then  reveals  to  Lucius  the  means 
of  his  recovery.  Her  feftival  was  on  the  follow- 
ing day  i  when  there  was  to  be  a  proceflion  of  her 
votaries.  Theprieftwho  led  it  up,  would  have  a 
chaplet  of  rofes  in  his  hand,  which  had  the  virtue 
to  reftore  him  to  his  former  fliape.  But  as  break- 
ing through  a  habit  of  vice  is,  of  all  things,  the 
mod  difficult ;  fhe  adds  encouragements  to  her  pro- 
mifes,  "  nee  quidquam  rerum  mearum  reformides, 
"  ut  arduum.  Nam  hoc  eodem  momento,  quo  tibi 
"  venio,  fimul  et  ib'ipnefens,  quae  funt  confequentia 
"  facerdoti  meo  per  quietem  facienda  pr^cipio  '." 
Alluding  to  what  was  taught  in  the  Myjlcries,  that 
the  cijfijtance  of  Heaven  Vv'as  always  preleni  to  fecond 
the  etforts  ot  virtue.  But  in  return  for  the  favour  of 
releafing  him  trom  his  brutal  fhape,  i.  e.  of  reform- 
ing his  manners  by  initiation^  fhe  cells  him  Ihe  ex- 
pected the  fervice  of  his  whole  lifej  And  this,  the 
Myji cries  required :  Is  or  fhould  her  fervice  go  unre- 
warded, for  he  fhould  have  a  place  in  Klyfium 
hereafter;  And  this,  too,  the.  Alyjieries  promifed. 
"  Plane  mcmineris,  et  penira  mente  condicum  fem- 
*'  per  tenebis,  mihi  rehq-a  vit^e  tua  curricula^  ad 
"  ufque  ttrminos  ultinu  f|.;iritus  vadata.    Nee  inju- 

'  P.  242. 

"  rium, 


3i6  1'hs  D  hi  fie  Legation       Book  II. 

"  rium,  cujus  beneficio  redieris  ad  homines  ei  to- 
*'  turn  debere  quod  vives.  Vives  autem  beatus, 
"  vives,  in  mea  tutela,  ^^ri^/wj :  et  cum  fpatium 
"  feculi  tui  permenfus  ad  inferos  demearis  -,  ibi 
"  quoque  in  iplo  iiibterraneo  femirotundo,  me, 
*'  quam  vides  Acherontis  tenebris  interlucentem, 
"  ftygiifque  penetralibus  regnantem,  campos  Ely- 
*«  SI  OS  incolens  ipfe^  tibi  propitiam  frequens  ado- 
"  rabis  ^.'* 

Lucius  is  at  length  connrmed  in  his  refolution 
of  afpiring  to  a  Hfe  of  virtue.  And  on  this  change 
of  his  difpofitions,  and  entire  conqueftof  his  paffi- 
onSjthe  author  finely  reprefents  all  nature  as  putting 
on  a  new  face  of  chearfulnefs  and  gaiety.  "  Tanta 
*'  hilaritudine  prseter  peculiarem  meam  geftire  mihi 
*'  cunfta  videbantur  ;  ut  pecua  etiam  cujufcemodi, 
"  et  totas  domos,  et  ipfiim  diem  ferena  tacie  gau- 
"  dere  fentirem  ^"  And  to  enjoy  Nature,  in  thefe 
her  bell  conditions,  was  the  boafted  privilege  of 
the  Initiated,  as  we  may  fee  from  a  Chorus  in  the 
Fr^^^of  Ariftophanes"\ 

And  now  the  procefTion,  in  honour  of  Ifis,  be- 
gins. Where  by  the  way,  we  muft  obferve,  that 
the  two  firji  days  of  the  celebration  of  the  Ekuji- 
nian  Myfieries  are  plainly  defcribed  :  the  one  called 
ArTPMOS,from  the  multitude  aiTembled  ;  the  other 
AAAIE  MTZTAI,  from  the  proceflion  made  to  the 
fea-fliore.  "  Tunc  influunt  Turb.^  facris  divinis 
"  initiatJE" — jam  ripam  maris  proximamus"."  The 
prieft  or  hierophant  of  the  rites  leads  up  the  train 
of  the  initiated  with  a  garland  of  rofes  in  his  hand. 
Lucius  approachesjdevours  the  rofes,  and  is,  accord- 

k  p.  242.  t  P.  243. 

K.«»  cp^yy^  tAa^ov  ?rt» 
"Oaoi  (its^y «(*£&' — Aft.  i. 
a  P.  245.  °  P.  249. 

ing 


Se<ft.  4.     0/ Moses  demonfirated,  317 

ing  to  the  promife  of  the  goddefs,  reftored  to  his 
natural  form  :  by  which,  as  we  have  faid,  no  more 
was  meant  than  a  change  of  manners  from  vice  to 
virtue.     And  this  the  author   plainly  intimates  by 
making  the  Goddefs   thus  addrefs  him  under  his 
brutal  from,  "  peflimsE  mihique  deteftabilis  jamdu- 
"  dum  beluaeiftiuscorio  te  protinus  exueP."     For 
an  Afs  was  fo  far  from  being  deteftable,  that  it  was 
employed  in  the  celebration  of  her  rices ;  and  was 
ever  found  in  the  retinue  of  Ofiris  or  Bacchus.  The 
gajrland  plainly  reprefents  that  which  the  afpirants 
were  crowned  v/ith  at  their  initiation-,  juft  as  the 
virtue  of  the  roles   defigns  the  Myjieries.     At  his 
transformation  he  had  been  told,  that  rofes  were  to 
reftore    him  to   humanity:  fo  that   amid'   all   his 
adventures,  he  had  ftill  this  remedy  in  view.     Par- 
ticularly  in  a  circumftance  of  great  diftrefs,  he 
met  with  a  fpecies  of  them  called   rofa  laiirea  \  but 
on  examining  it's  properties,  he  found  that,  inftead 
of  a  reltorative,  it  was   a  deadly  poifon  to  all  kind 
of  cattle  —  "  quarum  cunfto  pecori   cibus  lethalis 
"  eft."     Who  can  doubt  then,  but  by  this  rofe-lau- 
rel  was  meant  all  debauched^  magical^   and  corrupt 
Myjieries,  fuch  as  thofe  of  the  Syrian  Goddess, 
whole  minifters   he  reprefents  in  fo  abominable  a 
light'';  in  oppofition  to  what  he  calls  "  lobrire  re- 
"  ligionis  oblervatio :  and  in  thole  rites,  initiation 
was  fo  tar  from  promoting  a  life   of  virtue,  that 
it  plunged  the  deluded  wretches  into  ftill  greater 
miferies.     Thefe    emblematic    rofes    were   not  of 
our   author's   invention.     For  the  rose,  amongft 
the  ancients,  was  a  fymbol  of  silence,  the  requi- 
fite  quahty  of  the  Initiated.    And  therefore  the  fta- 
tues  of  Ifis  or  Diana  Multimammea,   (images  con- 
fccrated  to  the  ufe  of  the  Myfteries,)  are  crowned 
wiih  chaplets  of  rofes. 

P  P.  242.  'i  L.  vlii.  p.  174. 

Our 


^iS  The  Divhie  Legation      Book  If, 

Our  author  proceeds  to  tell  us,  that  the  people 
wondered  at  this  inftantaneous  metamorphofis.  Po- 
puli  mirantur,  reUgiofi  veneranttir  tarn  evidentem 
niaxlmi  numinis  potentiam — tt  facilitatem  reforma- 
tionis^.  For  the  JVIyfterics  buafted  the  power  of 
giving  a  fudden  and  entire  change  to  the  mind  and 
affections.  And  the  advocates  of  paganifm  againft 
Chriftianity  ufed  to  oppofe  this  boaft  to  the  real  and 
miraculous  efficacy  of  Grace. 

As  foon  as  Lucius  had  recovered  the  integrity  of 
his  nature  by  initiatmi^  the  Prieft  covers  him, 
naked  as  he  was,  with  a  linen  garment  ^  A 
habit  always  bellowed  upon  the  afpirant,  on  his 
admilTion  to  the  Myfteries  ;  the  rationale  of  which, 
Apuleius  himfelf  gives  us  in  his  apology  ^ 

When  all  was  over,  the  prieft  accofts  his  pe- 
nitent in  the  following  manner.  *•  Multis  et  va- 
"  riis  exantlatis  laboribus,  magnifqueFortun^e  tem- 
"  peftatibus,  et  maximis  adus  procellis,  ad  por- 
"  turn  quietis  ti  aram  Mifcricordi£\.Aw<^ziT\^  Luci 
"  venifti:  nee  tibi  natales,  ac  ne  dignitas  quidem 
"  vel  ipfa,  qua  fiores,  ufquam  dodrina  profuir  : 
"  fed  lubrico  virencis  setatulcc,  ad  ferviles  delapfus 
"  voluptates,  curiositatis  improfpers  finiftruni 
"  premium  reportafti.  Sed  utrinque  Fortuni'ecfEci- 
"  tas  dum  te  peffimispericulis  dii'crutiat,  adreligio- 
*■'■  fam  ifiam  hnbitudinem  improvida  produxit  mali- 
"  tia.     Eat  nunc,  et  fummo  furore  fssviar,  et  cru- 

^  P.  247 -^.  ^ 

s  Sed  facerdos,  utcumque  dl'vino  jtionitu  cogn'.tis  ah  origins 
cun5lis  cladihus  men,  quamquam  et  ipfe  infigni  permotus  mira- 
culo,  nutu  fignificaco  prius  praccipit,  tegendo  mihi  linteaW 
dari  LACiNiAM,  p.    248. 

^  Lana  fegniffimi  corporis  excremeiitum,  pecori  detrafla, 
jam  inde  Orphei  et  Pythagoras  fcitis,  profanus  veflitus  eft.  Sed 
enim  mundiflima  L  i  n  i  leges,  inter  optimas  fruges  terrae  exorta 
nonmodo  indutui  et  avuclui  fandiljimis  ^gyftiorum  facerdotibuSf 
fed  opertui  quoque  in  rebus  facr is  ufurpatur.     JpoL  p.  64. 

*'  delitati 


Se(ft.  4.     of  Moses  demojijlrated,  3 1 9 

*'  delitati  fujE  materiam  quasrat  aliam.  Nam  in 
"  eornm  vitas,  quorum  fibi  fervitium  De^e  ncftrtS 
•'  majelias  vindicavit^  non  habet  loam  cafus  infejlus. 
*'  Quid  latrones,  quid  ferse,  quid  fervitium,  quid 
"  afperrimorum  itinerum  ambages  rcciproc^,  quid 
*'  metus  mortis  quotidianre  nefarise  FortunsE  pro- 
*'  fuit?  in  tutelam  jam  receptus  es  fortune, 
''^  fed  VI  DENT  IS  J  qutefute  lucis  fplendore  ceteros  etiam 
•'  deosilluminat.  Sume  jam  vultum  Isetiorem,  can- 
*'  dido  ifto  hahitutuo  congruentem;  comitare  pom- 
"  pamDes  sospitatricis  innovanti  gradu;  vide- 

*'  ANT      IRRELIGIOSi:     VIDEANT,     ET      ERROREM 

"  suuM  RECOGNOSCANT.  Eneccc  priftinis srumnis 
*'  abfolutus,  IsiDis  magna  prov identi a  gaudens 
*'  Lucius^  de  fuafortuna  trhimphat^. 

Here  the  moral  of  the  fable  is  delivered  in 
plain  terms;  and,  in  this  morale  all  we  have  ad- 
vanced, concerning  the  purpofe  of  the  work,  fully 
confirmed.  It  is  exprefly  declared,  that  vice  and, 
inordinate  curiosity  were  the  caufes  of  Lucius's 
difafters;  from  which  the  only  relief  was  initia- 
tion into  the  mysteries.  Whereby  the  author 
would  infinuate,  that  nof  hing  was  more  abhorrent 
from  thofe  holy  rites  than  debauchery  and  ma- 
gic; the  two  enormities  they  were  then  commonly 
lfufpe6led  to  encourage. 

It  hath  been  obferved  above,  that,  by  Lucius's 
return  to  his  proper  form,  was  meant  his  initiation\ 
and  accordingly,  that  return  is  called,  (as  initiation 
was,)  the  being  born  again — ut  renatvs  quodam- 
modo,  and — fua  providentia  quodammodo  rena- 
tos;  but  this  was  only  to  the  lesser,  not  the 
greater  myfieries.  The  firft  was  to  purify  the 
mind  :  hence  it  was  called  by  the  Ancients,  K<>;}C('a? 
*(p<»«^£(r*v,  a  feparation  from  evil :  the  fecond  was  to 

y  P.  24.8^9, 
Vol.  I.  Y  enlighten 


320         The  Divine  Legation  Book  II, 

enlighten  it,  when  purified,  and  to  bring  it  to  the 
knowledge  of  divine  fecrets,  as  Hierocles  Ipeaks, 
tireiToc  kra  kiri^^^KKc-t  t?  t«v  ^c-toik^av  •yvua-ei.  Hence 
they  named  the  one  KABAPZIN,  and  the  other  TE- 
AEIOTHTA,  PURIFICATION  and  perfection. 
The  fr/i  is  here  reprefented  in  the  incident  of 
Lucius's  being  reftored  to  humanity  by  the  ufe 
ofrofes:  The  fecond,  as  the  matter  of  chief  impor- 
tance, the  author  treats  more  circumllantially. 

He  begins  with  making  the  prieft  take  occafion, 
from  tiie  benefit  already  received ,  to  prefs  Lucius  to 
enter  into  the  greater  rnyjieries  of  Ifis.  "  Qlio  tibi 
'*  tamen  tutior  fis,  atque  munitior  \  da  nomen  huic 
*-^  fanEia  militicc^  cujus  olim  fiicramento  etiam  Ite- 
"  taberis  •,  teque  jam  nunc  obfequio  religionis'no- 
"  ftrae  dedica,  et  minifterii  jugum  fubi  voluntari- 
"  um.  Nam^  cum  cceperis  DecC  fervire^  tunc  magis 
^'-  fcnties  fruBimi  tUoC  lihertatis^  \''  But  at  the  fame 
time  makes  him  inform  the  Candidate,  that  nothing 
was  to  be  precipitated :  for  that  not  only  many  pre- 
vious rites  and  ceremonies, concerning  religious  diet, 
and  abftinence  from  prophane  food,  were  to  be  obfer- 
ved  -,  but  that  the  Afpirants  to  thefe  higher  myfteries 
were  to  wait  for  a  call.  '*  Quippe  cum  avidirati 
*'  contumaci^que  fumme  cavere,  et  uti  amque  cul- 
"  pam  vitare,  ac  neque  vocatus  morari,  nee  non 
*'  jufiiis  feilinare  deberem.  Nee  tamen  effe  quem- 
"  quam  de  liio  numero  tam  perditc'E  mentis,  vel 
"  immo  deitinatE  mortis,  qui  non  fibi  quoque  fe- 
"  orfum,jubenteDomina,  temerarium  atque  facrile- 
"  gum  audeat  minifterium  fubirc,  noxamque  ie- 
**  talem  contrauere.  Nam  et  inieriim  clauilra,  et 
*'  falutis  tutelam  in  Dere  man'u  pofita  ipfamque  tra- 
"  ditionem  ad  inftar  voluntari^  mortis  et  prsca- 
"  rias  iaiuris  cclebrari '=.'*     Accordingly,  he  is  ini- 

*•  P,  249.        ^  P.  2-5—4. 

tiated 


Sed:.  4.     of  Mo  s  e  s    demonri rated,  3  2 1 

tiated  into  the  greater,  mysteries.  The  cere- 
mony is  defcribed  at  large  ^j  and  we  find  it  to 
agree  exaftly  with  what,  we  have  fhewn,  other 
ancient  writers  more  profcffedly  deliver  concerning 
it. 

The  author,  by  the  doubts  and  apprehenfions 
which  retarded  his  initiaticn,  firlt  gives  us  to  un- 
derftand,  that  the  highefl  degree  ot  fanftity  was 
required  ofthofe  who  entered  into  the  myfleries.'-^ 
"  At  ego,  quamquam  cupienti  voluntate  prssdi- 
*'•  tuSj  tamen  religiofa  formidine  retincbar.  Qiiod 
"  enim  fedulo  percontaveram,  difficile  religionis  oh- 
'-^  Jeqiiium^  et  caftimonioriim  ah§iinentir.m  fatis  arduamy 
*'  cautoqiie  circumfpeofu  vitam^  qua  multis  cajibus 
*■'■  fubjacet^  ejfe  miinie7idam ''■  "  Thefe  difficulties 
now  lurmounted,  he  is  initiated  with  the  accuftom- 
cd  ceremonies.  He  then  makes  his  prayer,  in 
which  the  grand  AIIOPPHTA  of  the  myjleries  is  ftill  * 
more  plainly  referred  to.  "  Tu  quidein  fanda 
"  ct  humani  generis  sospitatrix  perpetua,  Temper 
*'  fovendis  mortalibus  munifica,  dulcem  miatris 
"  affeftionem  miferorum  cafibus  tribuis — Te  su- 

*'  PERI  COLUNTi  OBSERVANT  INFERIj  TU  ROTAS 
"  CRBEM-,  LUMINAS  SOLEM;  REGIS  MUNDUM  ;  CAL- 
"  CAS  TARTARUMj  TIBI  RESPONDENT  SIDERA  ^  ; 
*'  GAUDENT  LUMINA  ',  REDEUNT  TEMPORA  ;  SERVl- 
"  UNT  ELEf^ENTA  :  TUO  NUTU  SPIRANT  FLAMINA; 
*'  NUTRIUNTUR  NUBILA;  GERMINANT  SEMINA; 
"  CRESCUNT  GERMINA;  TUAM  MAJESTATEM  PER- 
"  HORRESCUNT     AVES     COELO     MEANTESj      FER^ 

y  p.  255—6—7.  *  p.  252. 

^  See  the  quotation  above. — Foriuna  FicUtitis,  qiia  fua  lucls 
fpleiidore  ceteros  etiani  Dcos  illumhiat. 

^  Refpondent  fidtra.  This,  I  luppofe,  relates  to  the  mujic  of 
the  fpheres.  The  image  is  noble  and  iublimp.  It  is  taken  from 
the  confent  in  the  lyre,  to  anfwer  to,  and  obey  the  hand  of  the 
Mailer  who  had  put  them  into  tune. 

Y    2  MON- 


$22  7he  Divhte  Legation      Book  111 

*'  MONTIBUS  ERRANTESj    SERPENTES  SOLO  LATEN 
"  TES;    EELU/E    Pt)NTO  NATANTES  ^" 

The  affair  thus  over,  and  the  honour  attendant 
on  initiation  into  the  greater  mySferies  being  marked 
out  in  the  words — cominahar  facrarium  -,  tota  civi- 
tati  notus  ac  confpicuus^  digitis  hominum  nutihusqite  no- 
tabilis^ ;  the  author,  in  the  next  place,  takes  occa- 
fion,  agreably  to  his  real  praftice  and  opinions,  to 
recommend  a  midtiplicity  of  initiations.  He  tells 
us  how  Jfts  counfelled  him  to  enter  into  the  my- 
fjeries  of  OJiris :  how,  after  that  flie  invited  him 
to  a  third  initiation:  and  then  rewarded  him  for 
his  accumulated  piety  with  an  abundance  of  tem- 
poral bleffings. 

All  this  confidered,  we  can  no  longer  doubt  but 
that  the  true  defign  of  his  work  was  to  recom.mend 

INITIATION  INTO  THE  MYSTERIES,  IN  OPPOSI- 
TION TO  THE  NEW  RELIGION.  We  fee  the  cataftro- 
phe  of  the  piece,  the  whole  Eieventb  Book^  entirely 
taken  up  with  it  •,  and  compofed  with  the  greateft 
ferioufnefs  and  fuperftition. 

And,  furely,  nothing  could  be  better  conceived, 
to  recommend  the  nyjieries,  than  the  idea  of  fuch 
a  plan;  or  better  contrived  than  his  execution  of  it. 
In  which,  he  omits  no  circumflance  that  might 
be  plaufibly  oppofed  to  Chriftianity  ^  or  that  might 
be  recommended,  with  advantage,  to  the  Magi- 
Urate's  favour:  as  where  he  tell:  us,  that  in  thefe 
rites,  they  prayed  for  the  profperity  of  all  orders  in  the 
State— *' faufla  vota  prsefatus  principi  magno, 
*' fenatuique  et  equiti,   totique  populo  romano." 

This  interpretation  will  throw  new  light  on 
every  part  of  the  golden  ass.  But  I  have  been  fo 
long  upon  the  fubjeft,  that  I  have  only  time  to 
sive  one  inftance;  and  this,  chiefly   becaufe  it  re- 

<^  P.  3f— ^8.    '.  ^'  p.  219. 

fle(5ls 


Sefl.  4-      of  Moses  demonjlrated,  323 

fleds  it  back  again  on  the  general  interpretation  of 
the  Fable. 

In  the  fifth  and  fixth  books  is  the  long  epifode 
of  Cupid  and  Psyche^;  vifibly  allegorical  through- 
out ;  and  entirely  foreign  to  all  the  reft  of  the 
work,  confidered  as  a  mere  Milefian  fable;  but 
very  applicable  to  the  writer's  purpofe,  if  he  had 
that  moral  to  inculcate  which  we  have  here  affigned 
him. 

There  was  no  man,  though  he  regarded  the  ^0/- 
den  Jfs  as  a  thing  of  mere  amufement,  but  faw  that 
the  flory  of  Cupid  and  Pfyche  was  a  philofophic 
allegory  of  the  progrefs  of  the  foul  to  perfeElion^  in 
the  poffeffion  of  divijie  love  and  the  reward  of  immor- 
tality. Now  we  have  fliewn  at  large,  that  the  pro- 
fefled  end  of  the  myfferies  v/as  to  reftcre  the  foul  to 
it's  original  rectitude.,  and  to  encourage  good  men 
with  the  promifes  o\  happinefs  in  another  life.  The 
fable,  therefore,  o'i  Cupid  and  Pfyche,  in  xht  fifth  and 
fixth  books,  was  the  fineft  and  moft  artful!  prepa- 
rative for  the  fubjeft  of  the  eleventh y  which  treats 
of  the  myfferies. 

But  if  we  look  more  nearly  into  this  beautiful 
fable,  we  fhall  find  that,  befides  it's  general  pur- 
pofe,  it  has  one  more  particular.  We  have  ob- 
ferved  that  the  corrupt  ft  ate  of  the  myfieries,  in  the 
time  of  Apuleius,  was  one  principal  reafon  of  his 
undertaking  their  apology.  Thefe  corruptions  were 
of  two  kinds,  debaucheries  and  magic.  Their  de- 
haitcheries  have  been  taken  notice  of  above.     Their 

^  The  Amour  of  Cupid  and  Pfyche  was  a  fubje£l  which  lay 
in  common  amongft  the  Platonic  writers.  And  every  one 
fafhioned  this  agreeable  fidlion  according  to  the  doctrines  be  had 
to  convey  under  it.  By  this  means  ic  could  not  but  become 
tamous.  The  remaining  monuments  of  ancient  fculpture  con- 
vince u£  that  it  was  very  famous;  in  which,  nothing  is  fo 
o  mmon  as  the  figures  of  Cupid  and  Pfyche  in  the  various  cir- 
13.11  fiances  of  their  adventures. 

Y     q  MAGIC 


324  ^he  Divine  Legation        Book  II. 

MAGIC  was  of  three  forts:   i.  The  Magic  of  invo- 
cation or  Necromancy.   2.  The  Magic  of  transfor- 
mation or  Metamorphosis,  3.  And  the  Magic  of 
divine  communication  under  a  vifible  appearance  or 
Theurgy.  The  shews  of  the  myjleries  feem  to  have 
given  birth  to  the  firfb:  The  doctrine  of  the  Me- 
tempjychofis  taught  therein,  to  the  fecond  :  and  the 
AnOPPHTA  concerning  the  divine   nature,  to  the 
third.     The  abomination  of  the  two  firft  forts  was 
feen,  by  all,   and  frankly  given  up  as  criminal :  but 
the  fanatic  Platcnijis  and  Pythagoreans  of  the  latter 
ages,  efpoufing  the  third,  occafioned  it  to  be  held 
in  credit  and  reverence.  So  that,  as  Heliodorus  tells 
us,  the  Egyptian  priefts,  (between   whofe  Philo- 
fophy  and  ianatic  Pkitonifm,  there  was  at  this  time 
a  kind  of  coalition*" )    afFefted  to   diftinguifli    be- 
tween  the  magic  of  Necromancy  and  the  magic  of 
Theiirgy;  accounting  the  firfi  infamous  and  wick- 
ed ;  but  the  laft  very  fair,  and  even  commendable. 
Fornow  both  thofe  Fanatics  had  their  philosophic 
mysteries  ;  the  Rites  of  which  confided  in  the  pra- 
ctice of  this  Th  euro  ic  MAGIC  Thefewere  the  My- 
fieries^   to  obferve  it  by  the  way,  of  which  the  em- 
peror Julian  was  fo   fond,  that  .he  placed  his  prin- 
cipal felicity,  (as   the  Chriftians   did   his  principal 
crime)  in  their  celebration.     But  our  author  who 
had  imbibed  his  platonifm,  not  at  the  muddy  fl:reams 
of  thofe  late  Enthufiafts,  but  at  the  pure  fountain- 
head  of  the  Academy   itfelf,  well  underfiiood   how 
much  this   fuperfiition,  with  all  it's   plaufible  pre- 
tences, had  polluted  the  Myfteries  ;  and,  therefore, 
z\  in  the  courfe  of  the  adventures  of  his  golden  Afs^ 
he  had  fligmatized  the  two  other  kinds  of  magic ^ 
he  compofed  this  celebrated  tale  (hitherto  fo  little 
underftood)  to  expofe  the  magic  of  Theiirgy.     It  is, 

'  See  Book  iii,  Sedl.  iv.  towards  the  end, 

4  as. 


$6(51.4.      ^  Moses  demonjlrated.  325 

as  we  faid,  a  philofophic  allegory  of  the  progrefs  of 
the  foul  to  perfeHion^  in  the  poffejfton  of  divine  love 
and  the  rezvaj'd  of  immortality^  delivered  in  the 
adventures  oi  Pf'che,  or  the  Soul:  whofe  various 
l^ibours  and  travetTes  in  this  progrefs,  are  ail  re- 
prefented  as  the  effcdls  of  her  indilcreet  paflion  for 
that  fpecies  of  magic  called  Theurgy. 

To  undcriland  this,  we  mult  obferve,  that  the 
enthufiafiic  Platonifts,  in  their  purfuit  of  the  Su- 
preme Good,  the  Union  with  the  DeitVy  made  the 
completion  and  perfection  of  it  to  conful  in  the 
Theiirgic  Vifion  of  the  "Avtott^ov  AyaAi^x  or  the  felf 
feen  image,  i.  e.  feen  by  the  fplenclour  of  it's  own 
light.  Now  the  ftory  tells  us,  there  were  three 
Sillers,  the  youngert  of  whom  was  called  Psyche  ; 
by  which  we  are  to  underfland,  the  three  peripatetic 
fouls,  i\\t  fsnfitive,  i\\t  ani:nal,-a.ndi\\t  rational;  or 
in  other  v/ords,  fenfe,  appetite,  and  reafon :  that  the 
beauty  of  Pfyche  was  fo  divine,  that  men  forfook 
the  altars  of  the  gods  to  follow  and  worfnip  her, 
according  to  the  ancient  aphorifm. 

Nullum  Numcn  abeft,  fi  fit  prudentia  — 

She  is  contrad:ed  to,  and  pofTcfies  the  celeflial  Cupid 
or  DIVINE  LOVE-,  who  cohabits  with  her   invisi- 
bly, amidft  all  kinds  of  pleafures  and  delights.  In 
the  mean  time  her  Sifbers,  envious  of  her  fuperior 
enjoyments,  take  advantage  of  the  God's  invifibility 
to  perplex  her  with  a  thoufand  doubts  and  fcruples ; 
which  end  in  exciting  her  curiofity  to  get  a  sight 
of  her  lover.     By  which  the  author  feems  to  infinu- 
ate  that  they  are  the  irregular  palTions  and  appetites 
which  ftir  up  men's  curiofity  to  this  fpecies  of  ma- 
gic, the  'Theiirgic  vision.  Pfyche is  deluded  by  them, 
andagainfttheexprefsinjunftionofthegod,  who  calls 
it  SACRiLEGA  CURI03ITAS,  attempts  this /(7r/'/^^£?;z 
Jlght.  She  fucceeds,  and  is  undone.  Divine  love  for- 
Y  4  fakes 


326  The  Divine  Legation      Book  III. 

fakes  her :  the  fcenes  of  pleafure  vanifh :  and  flie 
finds  herfelf  forlorn  andabandoned;  furrounded  with 
miferies,  and  purfued  with  the  vengeance  of  Hea- 
ven. In  this  diftrefs  fhe  comes  to  the  Temples  of 
Ceres  and  Juno,  and  feeks  prote6lion  of  thofe 
Deities  j  by  which  is  meant,  the  having  recourfe 
to  their  Myfleries^  againft  the  evils  and  difafters 
of  life;  as  is  plainly  marked  by  the  reafon  given 
for  her  application — "  n€C  ullam  vel  dubiam  spei 
*'  MELiORis  viam  volens  omittere  ^.— They  both 
deny  admittance  to  her-,  intimating' that  the^^- 
rer  myjleries  difcouraged  all  kind  of  magk^  even 
the  moft  fpecious.  In  a  word,  after  along  and  fevere 
repentance  and  penance,  in  which  the  author  feems 
to  have  fhadowed  the  trials  and  labours  undergone 
by  the  Afpirants  to  the  Myjleries^  fhe  is  pardoned  and 
reftored  to  the  favour  of  Heaven.  She  is  put  again 
into  poffeflion  of  Divine  Love^  and  rewarded  with 
the  prerogative  of  Immortality. 

There  are  many  other  circumflances  in  this  fine 
allegory  equally  ferving  to  the  end  here  explained  : 
as  there  are  others  which  allude  to  divers  beautiful 
platonic  notions,  foreign  to  the  prefent  difcourfe. 
It  is  enough  that  we  have  pointed  to  it*s  chief  and 
peculiar  purpole  •,  which  it  was  impoffible  to  fee 
while  the  nature  and  defign  of  the  whole  fable  lay 
undifcovered. 

But  now  perhaps  it  may  be  faid,  "  that  all  this 
is  very  well.  An  allegory  is  here  found  for  the 
GOLDEN  ASS,  which,  it  mull:  be  owned,  fits  the 
fable.  But  flill  it  may  be  afked.  Was  it  indeed 
made  for  it .''  Did  the  author  write  the  tale  for  the 
moral ;  or  did  the  Critic  find  the  moral  for  the  tale? 
For  an  allegory  may  be  drawn  from  almoft  any 
ftory :  and  they  have  been  often  made  for  authors 

s  P.  113.. 

who 


Sedl.  4*      0/ Moses  demonjlrated.  327 

who  never  thought  of  them.  Nay,  when  a  rage  of 
allegorizing  happens  to  prevail,  as  it  did  a  century 
or  two  ago,  the  Author  himfelf  will  be  tempted  or 
obliged,  as  well  as  the  Commentator,  to  encourage 
this  delufion.  Ariojlo  and  Taffo,  writers  of  the 
higheft  reputation,  one  of  whom  compofed  after 
the  Gothic  Romances,  as  the  other  did  from  the 
ClaJJic,  without  ever  concerning  themfelves  with 
any  other  moral  than  what  the  natural  circumftances 
of  the  fable  conveyed ;  yet,  to  fecure  the  fuccefs 
of  their  works,  they  fubmitted,  in  compliance  to 
falhion  and  falfe  tafte,  to  the  ridiculous  drudgery 
of  inventing  a  kind  of  pofthumous  allegory,  and 
fometimes  more  than  one;  that  the  reader  himfelf 
might  feafon  their  fables  to  his  own  tafte.  As  this 
has  been  the  cafe.  To  fhew  that  I  neither  impofe 
upon  myfelf  nor  others,  I  have  referved  the  Author's 
own  declaration  of  his  having  an  allegoric  meaning, 
for  the  laft  confirmation  ot  my  fyftem.  It  is  in 
thefe  words, 

At  ego  tibi  fermone  ifto  Milefio 
Varias  fabulas  conferam,  aurefque  tuas 
Benevolas  lepido  fufurro  permulceam; 

Modo   fl  PAPYRUM   ^GYPTIAM   ARGUTIA 
NiLOTICI       CALAMI       INSCRIPTAM,     non     fprC- 

veris 
Infpicere  ^  • 

A  diredl  infinuation  of  it's  being  replete  with  the 
profound  ^Egyptian  wifdom-,  of  which,  that  Nation, 
by  the  invention  of  the  Myfteries,  had  conveyed  fo 
confiderable  a  part  to  the  Greeks. 

Before  I  totally  difmifs  this  matter  it  may  not  be 
improper  to  obferve,  that  both  Virgil,  and, 
Apuleius  have  reprefenced  the  genuine   Myste- 

1*  In  jnit.  Fab, 


328  The  Divine  Legation      Book  If . 

Ri£s,  as  Rites  of  perfeft  fandlity  and  purity  ;  and 
recommended    only    fuch    to    their  Countrymen; 
wbilethey  expofe  impure  and  impious  rites  to  the 
public  averfion  •,  for  it  was  their  purpofe  to  ftigma- 
tize  the    reigning  Corruptions  and  to  recommend 
the  ancient  Sandtity,       On  the    contrary,    a  man 
attached  by  his  office  to  the  recommendation  of  the 
Myfteries,  as  then  praftifed,  was    to   do   the   heft 
he  could,  when  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  this  di- 
ftindion  ;  and  was  to  endeavour  to  give  fair  colours 
to  the  fouled  things.   This  was  the  cafe  of  Jambli- 
CHUS.     His  friend  Porp^jTjy  had  fome  fcruples  on 
this  head.     He  doubts  whether  thofe   Rites  could 
come  from  the  Gods,  which  admitted  fuch  a  mix- 
ture of  lewdnefs  and   impurity.     Such  a  mixture 
Jamhlichus  confeffes  ;  bur,  at  the  fame  time,  en- 
deavours to  account  for  their  divine   original,  by 
fhewing,  that  they  are  only  the  emblems  of  natural 
truths  j  or  a  kind  of  moral  purgation  of  the  inordi- 
nate pafiions  '".    You  will  fay,  he  might  have  given 
abetter  anfwer;  That  they  were  modern  abufesand 
corruptions.     He  afl<:s  your  pardon  for  that.    Such 
a  contefiion  would  have  been  condemning  his  own 
Platonic  fanaticifm  \  that  very  fanaticifm  which  had 
brought  in   thefe  abominations.     He  was  reduced 
therefore  to   the   necefllty  of  admitting,  that  they 
were  no  after-corruptions,  but  coeval  with  the  Rites 
then  felves.     And  this   admiffion  of  fo   learned  a 
Hierophant,    is,  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  collec^l:,   the 
only  fupport  which  any  one  can    have  for   faying, 
that  the  Myfleries  were  impure   and   abominable 
even  from  their  firfl;  inftitution. 

Hitherto  we  have  confidered  the  legiilator's  care 
in  perpetuating  the  do(5lrine  ol"  a  future  state. 
And  if  I  have  been  longer  than  ordinary  on   this 

'  De  mvReriis,  Se£l.  i.  cap.  xi. 

head. 


Sed.  4-     0/ Moses  demonjlrated.  329 

head,  my  excufe  is,  that  the  topic  was  new '',  and 
the  do6trine  itfelf,  which  is  the  main  lubjed  of  the 
prefent  inquiry,  much  inttrefted  in  i:. 

A  very  remarkable  circumftance,  (for  which  we 
are  indebted  to  the  obfervation  of  modern  travel- 
lers,) may  convince  us,  that  Rulers  and  Governors 
cultivated  the  belief  of  this  doftrine  with  a  more 
than  common  afliduity.  Many  barbarous  nations 
have  been  difcovered  in  thefe  later  times,  which, 
in  the  diftradions  of  Government,  and  tranfmigra- 
tions  of  People,  have,  it  is  probable,  fallen  from 
a  civilized  to  a  favage  ftate  of  life.  Thefe  are 
found  to  have  little  or  no  knowledge  of  a  God,  or 
obfervance  of  Religion.  And  yet,  which  is  a  fur- 
prifing  paradox,  they  ftill  retain  the  belief  and  ex- 
pectation of  a  FUTURE  STATE.  A  wonder  to  be  ac- 
counted for  no  other  way  than  by  what  hath  been 
faid  above  of  the  LegiQator's  principal  concern  for 
the  fupport  of  this  Dcdlrine-,  and  of  the  deep  root, 
which  by  it's  agreeable  nature,  it  flrikes  into  the 
Mind,  wherever  it  has  been  once  received.  So 
that  though,  as  hath  been  obferved,  no  Religion 
ever  exified  zvithout  the  do5lrim  of  a  Future  State^ 
yet  the  doctrine  of  a  Future  State  hath,  it  feems, 
ibmetimcs  exifted  without  a  Religion. 

•^  A  well-known  writer,  who  had  long  and  fcurriloufly  railed 
at  the  author  ofthe  D.  L.  in  a  number  of  miferable  pamphlets, 
hath  at  length  thought  fit  in  a  voluminous  work,  called  Chro- 
nolcglcal  ar.iiquities,  to  borrow  without  any  acknov.ledgement 
from  this  book,  all  he  had  to  give  the  public,  (which  by  the 
cngageaicrnt  of  his  Jubjcripkn  was  not  a  little}  concerning  the 
pagan  ly'lYSTERiEs  ;  and  much,  concerning  the  hieroglyphics 
and  online  ofiaolutry.  But  this  is  the  common  praftice  of  fuch 
writers ;  and  is  only  mentioned  here  to  Ihew  the  reader  to  what 
clafi  they  belong. 

T!ie  end  of  the  firft  Part  of  the  niu  Volume. 


:    .>  ,  ^ 


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